2d artist - issue 045 - september 2009
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Futuristic Environment Darren Yeow whips up a wonderful environment filled with cool shadows and warm colors using Google SketchUp as a tool to aid painting in Photoshop
Organic and Inorganic Custom Brushes Nykolai Aleksander shows is how to create fabric & lace custom brushes in the second instalment of our returning tutorial series
Project OverviewDavid Munoz Velazquez talks us through the inspiration behind the intriguingly titled image, Hovercraft Parrot, whilst showing us the painting breakdown
Speed Painting and Concept Design Björn Hurri jumps on board and shows us how to produce a character concept design sheet in the third part of our dynamic characters series
GalleriesRichard Anderson, Arnaud Valette
& Randis, plus more!
Issue 045 September 2009Concept Art, Digital & Matte Painting Magazine
InterviewsGuillaume Menuel
ArticlesBeyond Synaesthesia: Interview with Justin Lassen
The Sketchbook of Cliff Childs
• Free Brushes• Free Base Image • Free Fibonacci Spiral
page 2www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Contents
EditorialWelcome to issue 45, coming to you
from a cooling U.K. (after a debatable
summer), in which we aim to teach
you the art of perspective, lighting and
composition within our many great
tutorial series’ this month!
Darren Yeow is back with us to take
us through the painting of a beautiful
oriental-style scene which starts from
just a simple 3D base knocked up
using the free and intuitive software, Google SketchUp (p.50). This is the
third tutorial in this series and we’re really pleased with how our artists
have been using Google SketchUp in different ways to achieve their
own unique goals. We hope you’ve enjoyed what we’ve brought you
so far and that you’ll learn many new techniques to help speed up your
painting by integrating 3D into your workflow over this and our coming issues.
We welcome Björn Hurri to this issue to teach us a thing or two about
creating character concept designs from an inside-industry point of view
(p.72). Taking the theme of a warrior and a Photoshop paintbrush, he
speedily paints for us a character in both an interesting front and back
pose – showing us a neat trick of how to quickly get your back pose from
the front without too much trouble along the way, too. The importance
of Björn’s workshop is all about creating a character that a 3D modeler
can easily work from, which is perfect for this series contributed to by
professional artists working in the industry, including Darren Yeow and
Bruno Werneck. We’ll be discussing dynamic and exaggerated poses
next month when we introduce Mark McDonnell to 2DArtist, a designer
working for the animation and entertainment industry, and author of the
recent book on gesture drawing, The Art & Feel of Making it Real. In
the final chapter of the series we’ll be inviting David Smit to share his
lessons on camera placement, framing, fore-shortening, and distortion.
So plenty to look forward to!
Fans of Nykolai Alexander’s work will be particularly thrilled to see
her appear in three great articles this month. Not only is Nykolai
taking us through the third chapter of our Beginner’s Guide to Digital
Painting series (p.80), but she’s also here to teach and create for us
the most stunning set of custom brushes for fabric and lace – shown
in demonstration on this month’s cover image (p.62). But even that’s
not all! On top of this we also have an exclusive for 2DArtist: an artist-
on-artist interview by Nykolai Aleksander who puts the one and only
Justin Lassen under the spotlight to find out about his life and plans following his work on the Synaesthesia projects (p.26). This is a beautiful
interview featuring work by greats such as Alex Ruiz and John Wallin
Liberto, accompanying the soulful responses from CG community
legend, Justin Lassen.
Our artist interview is with Guillaume Menuel whose work we have fallen
so much in love with that we’ve had to get it printed for the office walls! Guillaume has the ability to turn just a few brushstrokes into a powerful
masterpiece, and currently a concept artist for Ubisoft, Quebec City,
he took some time away from his digital canvas to satisfy our intrigue.
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Contents What’s in this month?
Guillaume MenuelConcept Artist at Ubisoft
Sketchbook The Sketchbook of Cliff Childs
Beyond Synaesthesia Interview with Justin Lassen
The Gallery 10 of the Best 2D Artworks
Using 3D as a Base for 2D 3D Paint-Over by Darren Yeow
Custom Brushes Fabrics & Lace by Nykolai Aleksander
Dynamic Characters Part 3 – Speed Painting & Concept Design
Digital PaintingBeginner’s Guide by Nykolai Aleksander
‘Hovercraft Parrot’Project Overview by David Munoz Velazquez
‘‘‘Containment Breach Sub-Level 5’Digital Art Masters: V4 Free Chapter
About us 3DTotal.com Ltd Information & Contacts
Free Stuff!Wherever you see this
symbol, click it to download
resources, extras!
Editor Lynette Clee
Lead DesignerChris Perrins
Layout Layla Khani Matt Lewis
MarketingJo Hargreaves
Content Lynette Clee
Tom GreenwayRichard TilburyChris Perrins
Jo Hargreaves
ProofingLynette Clee
Jo Hargreaves
Check out his playful portfolio on p.6 for a generous helping of inspiration!
We feature Cliff Childs in our Sketchbook article this month, who has
currently just returned from an internship at Sony Santa Monica Studios.
Delve into this up-and-coming artist’s sketchbook on p.18 for tips on how
to keep your concepts original and exciting, and then be sure to hop on
over to our “making of” featuring the uniquely titled image, Hovercraft
Parrot, on p.92, by David Munoz Velazquez – a truly inspired image from
a fantastic portfolio that we’re excited to learn a little more about!
I shall leave you to discover the Gallery and get cracking with your own
masterpieces! See you next month for more where this came from. Ed.
Contributors
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page 4www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Contributors
Contributing ArtistsEvery month many artists around the world contribute to 3DCreative and
2DArtist magazines. Here you can find out more about them. If you would
like to be a part of 3DCreative or 2DArtist magazine, please contact:
Guillaume Menuel A 27-year old French artist
currently living in Quebec,
Canada. He’s now working
as a concept artist at Ubisoft
in Québec City after four years at Ubisoft in Paris,
where he worked as a 3D artist and artistic director.
He’s also currently thinking about a comic project
based on his recent personal works.
http://gmgallery.blogspot.com/
Justin Lassen
A well respected multi-
instrumentalist, composer,
remixer and producer with
nearly 15 years of experience in
the music, film, and video game industries. Lassen’s
masterful compositions have been praised and
quoted by leading CG artists, film, game and music
professionals the world over. In 2006 he released his
wildly successful “Synaesthesia” series, melding the
worlds of music and CG artwork together.
http://www.justinlassen.com/
Nykolai AleksanderBorn in Germany in 1978, she
moved to England in 1999,
and currently lives in South
Africa with her husband. She’s
been painting digitally since 2002, and works as
a freelance illustrator for both private clients and
companies.
http://www.admemento.com
page 5www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009page 5www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Contributors
Björn Hurri A concept artist and illustrator
currently employed by multi
award-winning, The Creative
Assembly. He spends most
of his days painting illustrations and concepts for
all of their current and future titles, and in-between
spending his time painting both day and night, he
takes care of his wonderful wife and his now one-
year old son.
http://www.bjornhurri.com/
Cliff ChildsMoved to the L.A. area from
St. George, Utah to attend Otis
College of Art and Design. His
undying love for videogames
led him to discover the world of digital painting and
concept art. He has recently been part of the God of
War 3 team as a junior concept intern at Sony Santa
Monica Studios. He plans on one more year at Otis
before pursuing a career as a concept/freelance
artist and illustrator.
http://cliffsconcepts.blogspot.com/
David Munoz Velazquez
A multi-disciplinary artist
specializing in character design,
lighting, and digital sculpting.
He studied graphic design for
five years, after which time he worked as a freelance
graphic designer, also spending time painting.
Before moving to the animation industry he worked
in videogames for four years, and for another year
freelance. He’s currently working in the animated film
industry, at Kandor Moon.
http://www.munozvelazquez.com/
DarrenYeow
27-year old self-taught
illustrator, originally hailing
from Adelaide, has worked as
a concept artist, user interface
designer and art director in video game companies
for the past four years, and currently lives in
Melbourne. Outside his full-time role as an in-house
concept artist working on next-gen games, he tutors
hopeful young artists, works on commissioned
freelance projects, and is writing a book for those
wishing to pursue a career in concept art.
We fire a few random questions at Guillaume Menuel and he shoots
back some whacky answers ... well I guess that’s how an interview
usually works, but anyway it’s a good
read (mainly about bikini girls and
robots) so get going!
“It’s a vision of an apocalyptic world at war
where a stupid army full of mechs and big
vehicles decides to invade beaches, because there’s
sun at the beach you know...”
page 7www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Guillaume Menuel Interview
Interview with Guillaume MenuelHi Guillaume, can you start by telling us a little
about yourself and what you do for work and
play?
Hi Tom, I’m a 27 year old French artist. After
four years working for Ubisoft, Paris as a
3D artist and artistic director, I left last year
for Ubisoft, Quebec City where I’m currently
working as artistic director.
As you can imagine, after work I need to paint
and draw for myself; to escape from a very
binding industry and have some fun. I like video
games a lot and I like my work, but I can’t only
devote myself to it. So that’s why personal
painting, playing music, movies, beer and
friends are so welcome!
Sounds like a nice lifestyle! Having moved
from Paris to Quebec City, what would you say
are the main differences between a French
Canadian city and French city?
People’s mentality is so different! I have the
feeling here that everything is much more
simple. In Quebec I can really breathe! Paris
and Quebec City are two different dimensions;
I love both, but Quebec City is such a peaceful
and sweet place to live. But I must say I do miss
the energy of Paris. It is a very inspiring city ...
Red stars and red bikinis! I see them
everywhere in your portfolio; there are lots of
bikinis throughout and you seemed to grow fond
of stars in 2008 and 2009, why is this?
Thanks for the question, it’s the first time I’ve
had to wonder about the whys of all of this. Well,
I have a simple answer for bikinis, just one word:
sexy! There is no great philosophical answer,
I’m afraid, just a primary feeling. But I don’t want
to represent girls as stupid big-boobed babes; I
draw them as strong characters. They’re sexy,
but don’t try to fool them.
For the stars, as you’ve seen it’s a military
representation - I always been fascinated by
military visuals. Also the star is a cool graphical
pattern, I like it for its simplicity and strength
and I’m fascinated with its use in political and
military history. But I don’t want to use it just
because it’s cool; I try to laugh about its political
significance by applying it to funny mechs and
“Nothing is taken seriously in my work. I try
to mix all the elements and create surrealist
situations”
page 11www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Guillaume Menuel Interview
vehicles. Nothing is taken seriously in my work.
I try to mix all the elements and create surrealist
situations.
As you say nothing is taken too seriously with
your work - are you aiming to amuse the viewer
or convey some other feeling? Or don’t you
really think too much about the viewer’s opinions
and just draw for yourself?
Many very talented artists have already painted
serious and realistic stuff that I admire. Rather
than copying them badly I prefer to continue
creating crazy stuff that is very natural for me
to make! Of course when I draw I think about
the people who will see my work (especially
professional people) and that’s why I try to make
the best picture I can. Having viewers pushes
me to give the best of myself, and I don’t like
bad crits - even if I need them and take them
very seriously [Laughs]! But every picture you’ve
seen from me is a personal project. I think
about a scene, I find it cool and fun, I paint it
and it’s so cool knowing someone took it as the
wallpaper on their computer!
If I was asked the one thing I like best about
your work, I would say it is the colours you
choose. You seem to have a natural ability
to pick the most beautiful, yet subtle, colour
palettes - can you tell us a little more about this?
Wow, thanks for that! I wouldn’t say it’s a natural
ability; when I paint I take a lot of time trying out different colors and
mixing layers - it’s probably the longest part of my work. I wish I could
decide before starting a work what my palettes will be, but they’re always
changing at different stages. Actually I always come back to the same
palette. I don’t know yet if I like it like that or not, but there it is! And if you
like it, maybe I should continue this way.
“Actually I always seem to come back to the same
color palettes”
page 14www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Interview Guillaume MenuelThere are lots of cute robots running around
in your portfolio. Why do you love to paint
them and what are your influences for these
characters?
It definitely comes from my interest in Manga,
Japanime and SF movies. I guess my interest
in robots came from the same reasons as
everyone else who draws robots. I like to draw
them because of their graphical malleability:
you can do what you want with their shapes.
But it also a lot of fun to be able to give them
a personality with very few details; sometimes
you can make them much more expressive than
humans. They tend to be cute in my drawings,
because as I said previously, I don’t take things
too seriously in my work.
Have you ever tried any other mediums, such as
3D modelling, for your robots?
I used 3D for a few years in video game
industry, but for more than two years now I’ve
only worked with 2D tools and I prefer that so
much! I’d love to make a short movie or a video
game demo based on my characters - that
would be a good opportunity to come back to 3D
tools. Well I say that, but I’m actually currently
working on a picture with a friend (also an artist
at Ubisoft), which mixes 3D and 2D (he creates
the models and scene and I paint over it).
I also work a little bit with acrylic on canvas. In
the past I used to work a little with argyle and
I’d love to try urban painting and make my mech
army invade city walls!
Your images “Red Star and Bikini” and “Beach
Robots Attack” have a lot of similar elements.
Are these images based on anything in
particular?
Not really, they both present a vision of an
apocalyptic world at war, where a stupid army
full of mechs and big vehicles decides to invade
beaches because there’s sun at the beach, you
know... but bikini-clad girls won’t let that happen!
Maybe the script for a comic or something else?
Who knows [Laughs]!
Your image “Miami” was one of our favorites to be published in our book
Digital Art Masters V3. How did you find this whole experience?
This experience was great! It was the first time my personal work had
been professionally published, so I was really excited about it. It was even
more exciting that I had the opportunity to explain the background of my
picture and how I worked on it. I didn’t have time this year to participate to
the new volume of Digital Art Masters, but I’ll be there next time!
I’m going to hold you to that Guillaume! Call for entries will be around
October some time and I’m expecting to see some red bikini-clad girls
chasing some crazy robots! Thanks again for your time and it’s been great
chatting, Tom.
Thanks to you too! I’ll be there in October and stupid robots will definitely
be there trying to conquer the world!
Guillaume MenuelFor more work by this artist please visit:
http://gmgallery.blogspot.com/
Or contact them at:
Interviewed by: Tom Greenway
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“The sketch phase is my favorite because it allows me to go crazy with shapes and value without thinking about anything specific, and it allows me focus on composition”
page 19 Issue 045 September 2009www.2dartistmag.com
Cliff Childs Sketchbook
Sketchbook of Cliff Childs CharactersWith my quick sketches I usually have a
direction I want things to go in, and the main
theme for these was to come up with something
odd and interesting by combining weird
creatures with human qualities (Fig.01a – 02b).
I started with some loose line drawings, working
directly on the Wacom tablet, and then blocked
in light and shadowed areas. Once I was happy
with the creature and the pose, I worked out the
values a little more whilst thinking about light
direction.
“Overlaying photos of food or skin is a great way to find interesting color variations”
When moving to color I like to first use Overlay, Soft Light, and Color
layer blending modes in Photoshop so that I keep some detail from
the grayscale. Overlaying photos of food or skin is a great way to find
interesting color variations – once I see a set of colors that I really like, I
usually color-pick from there to finish building up my characters.
page 21 Issue 045 September 2009www.2dartistmag.com
Cliff Childs Sketchbook
Grayscale to ColorA great way of starting color is to lay down some base colors just to help
set the tone and mood. In the tank and sci-fi sketches (Fig.03 – 04), I took
any random photograph that had a great set of base colors (like a desert
for the tank and an underwater picture for the sci-fi piece) and played with
the layer types in Photoshop until I found something that looked good
whilst not washing away my sketches. I sometimes blur the photos until
they become just smooth colors. In
the sci-fi sketch I made a stroke of
color under the Color Dodge layer
to create a glowing light effect, and
then duplicated that to create beams
of light. If I see some section or
piece of a sketch that is interesting,
I like to duplicate just that section
and transform it in other areas of the
sketch to add some repetition and
continuity.
“I sometimes blur the photos until they become just smooth colors.”
page 22www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Sketchbook Cliff Childs
SketchesMost of the time, I find the best way of coming up with an idea is to just
randomly throw down interesting brushstrokes/shapes and only focus on
making the values and composition work. I will usually then begin to see
something that will spark an idea of what kind of direction I want to take it.
Using shape tools and the Lasso Tool is a good way to start a man-made
environment, and loose texture brushes are a good way to start something
that looks natural and organic. Sometimes starting with random photos
causes me to create something that I never would have thought of, and it
also helps for setting a solid perspective. In the industrial sketch (Fig.05),
I started with a picture of screws, nuts, and bolts and turned that into a city
– randomizing is a great way to help me look only for interesting shapes
within a photograph.
“Randomizing is a great way to help me look only for interesting shapes within a
photograph.”
page 23 Issue 045 September 2009www.2dartistmag.com
Cliff Childs Sketchbook
The sketch phase is my favorite
because it allows me to go
crazy with shapes and value
without thinking about anything
specific, and it allows me focus on
composition. My ideas usually come
to me as I paint; I hope that my
sketches lead to images that look
different and interesting. Instead of
making something recognizable into
something interesting, I try and start
with something interesting and then
make it somewhat recognizable.
That way it has more originality!
Cliff ChildsFor more information please visit
http://cliffsconcepts.blogspot.com/
or contact
page 24www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Sketchbook Cliff Childs
“I constantly have a feeling that the music is just going to burst out of my chest at any point with an intensity I can’t control. I keep myself on edge, never letting myself explode, because I know I would lose all touch with reality if it ever came out all at once like that.”
Nykolai Aleksander, CG artist, close friend and co-collaborator in Justin’s “Synaesthesia” project, took some time to
sit down and talk to Justin about all the things that make him tick, and discover a side to him that may yet be unknown
even to hardcore Lassen fans.
page 27www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Beyond Synaesthesia An interview with musical mastermind, Justin Lassen
Beyond SynaesthesiaAn interview with musical mastermind, Justin
Lassen
IntroductionHis scores sound like
“a giant pot filled with
Enya, Aphex Twin,
Philip Glass, Danny
Elfman, Blue Man
Group, and Nine Inch
Nails swirled together until there is a black goop
burning at the bottom of the fire while steaming
piles of James Horner, Charlie Clouser and
Rachmaninov flow into the atmosphere…” - or
so it has been told.
But Justin Lassen, who has worked with
celebrities such as Madonna, Robert Miles
and Nine Inch Nails to name but a few, is more
than just another composer. He is a visionary
in the true sense of the word. He’s a dreamer
with a knack for the dark and mysterious (no
doubt something that runs in the genes, being
a direct descendent of one of the famous
Grimm Brothers), as well as someone who has
managed to stay with both feet firmly on the
ground.
An Interview with Justin, by Nykolai AleksanderHi Justin! First I want to thank you for doing this
interview! I’m all excited … I’ve never done this
before, so let’s hope I won‘t screw up too badly!
OK, how about we start with the usual stuff:
Could you tell the readers a bit about yourself?
Hello, and thanks for having me do this
interview!
Well, I’m a generally type casted as a dark artist/
composer/remixer/producer/musician, but I am
also many other things. I work in a lot of different
industries like films, videogames, music, radio,
media, etc. doing a lot of different odd jobs
and things. Not all of it is music or graphics;
sometimes it’s just spreadsheets and business
plans, or presentations for talks at schools or
pitch meetings. Whatever the project is, I just
make sure to do the best I can.
I was born in Colorado but mostly grew up in
Arizona, and I’m 100% self-taught musically,
though I was in any school choir I could get in,
all my life during those years (tenor). [Smiles]
page 28www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
An interview with musical mastermind, Justin Lassen Beyond Synaesthesia
Aside from apparently always having a love for
music, what else did you do when you were
growing up – any hobbies worth mentioning?
Any dream jobs you thought up as a kid?
Growing up, I was either all in, or not at all.
There was no half-way of doing things in my
eyes. If I couldn’t give it my all, I wouldn’t try at
all. I didn’t see the point. I had to figure things
out to the fullest.
When I was into science and chemistry, I didn’t
just get a chemistry set, I got 10, and I ordered
from the real chemistry lab catalogues – new
beakers and test tubes and such. When I was
making films, I took advantage of my family’s
cameras to the fullest, from VHS to JVC
to MiniDV; I grew with the technology as it
progressed and created dozens of short films,
as I wanted to be a director one day. When I
was into computers I learned Basic, Pascal, C/
C++, Visual Basic, and whatever else came
along.
When the internet started I made it a point to
learn Perl/HTML/JavaScript, etc. I learned even
technologies that are obsolete today. I don’t
do as much programming or any of that stuff
because music became my true love.
When I wanted to be a magician, I didn’t just
learn a few tricks, I took magic classes, I bought
tons of books about tricks, I dreamed of one day
“When I was into writing plays, I got all the neighborhood kids and put together productions for
all the parents at my house.”
page 29www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Beyond Synaesthesia An interview with musical mastermind, Justin Lassen
having a show, I put on shows. When I was into
writing plays, I got all the neighborhood kids and
put together productions for all the parents at my
house. There was so much I did younger, and
did to the fullest. I have no regrets. I like who I
have become.
One dream that I would love to return to one
day is marine biology. I’ve always had fantasies
about the sea and oceans, and snorkeling for
the first time in Cancun last year really re-ignited
that spark inside of me. I think the oceans are
the most beautiful things that we have on Earth.
I love underwater documentaries and deep sea
exploration. If in the apocalyptic future when I
can’t make the music I love, I would return to
that kind of work and keep learning as much as
I can.
Even as a composer, I read so many books
and learn so many things; I think life is my
university and there is never a graduation date.
I love documenting and archiving, which yet
another passion of mine. I try to theorize how
we as a people will be able to save all of our
digital memories. This technologically advanced
society cannot go on forever, and maybe one
day this and all record of it will be lost and future
generations will have to start over from scratch
again? Maybe we’ve been through this cycle a
few times? This idea fascinates me.
How did you start in the music industry? Was it
a slow process, did you actively seek work, or
were you discovered in some way?
I was always fascinated with digital music
creation from the mid 90s, but it wasn’t until the
late 90s I started taking it more seriously as a
career, as opposed to a hobby. That proved to
page 30www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
An interview with musical mastermind, Justin Lassen Beyond Synaesthesia
be the best choice I ever made. You have to
give it your all, or nothing will happen.
At first I didn’t know what to do; I sent out
random demos to tons of labels (this was
before we had MySpace and things like that).
It didn’t quite work, but ultimately I got my first
industry gig from one of my heroes, Robert
Miles, a brilliant platinum composer/artist that
I was listening to for ages. After working on
that project I started to get noticed by everyone
and one thing lead to another … and here I am
today.
For the technically inclined readers, what kind
of programs do you work with, and what kind of
computer power do you have at your disposal?
Believe it or not, I started making music on a
286 computer, at 33MHz and just 2MBs of RAM
with software like Midisoft Recording Studio
and Cakewalk. Over the years I’ve gotten more
powerful machines as they’ve come out. I
divide my time between two types of composing
processes: mobile and desktop. I do a lot of
travel around the world, so the last few years
has required me to have kick-ass laptops, filled
with the best sounds to jot down all my ideas, so
it’s usually Centrino systems. My current laptop
is a Core2 Duo 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM – plenty to
get a bunch of work done.
My stay-at-home desktop workstation is an Intel
Core i7 Extreme Edition running at 3.2GHz and
all the RAM and hard drive space I could ever
need. Between the two, I have enough power to
do all kinds of projects and styles. I use software
such as FL Studio, Sonar, Acid, Sound Forge,
and so on.
Many of us frequenting the CG scene will know
about your “Synaesthesia” project, a series
of compositions that not only accompany CG
images by various artists, but are the essence
of those images in sound. You were the first
to combine the two art forms. What was it that
made you do it, and how does it feel to be the
“founding father”, as it were, of a new art form
altogether?
Well, right after I invented the internet, I decided
that it needed a new art form, so I very quickly
put it together in a very founding-fatherly way.
“... that’s when I felt my first sincere connection with a CG artist’s vision...”
[Laughs] Just kidding! But for real, there was not
any intention to create something new like that. I
was just as mesmerized by the end result as the
fans when it was all said and done.
I was staring at a beautiful painting by Martin
Bland in 2005 called “Medusa Fields”, which I
fantasized for a while about, and after reading
the description of it, “30 years have passed,
still the epitaph of past conflict stands, the
legacy of that fateful day, when the weapon
was deployed, a permanent reminder of our
failings, a permanent lesson for future society,
these fields are sacred, doomed, cherished” I
was hooked. I had goosebumps; I had felt its
soul. At first I knew what was going on in the
scene, but when I read the confirmation and it
was just as I imagined, that’s when I felt my first
sincere connection with a CG artist’s vision, and
a beautiful string piece played out of my fingers
like a ghost playing or something. I knew I had
something special when I heard it played back.
The CG artists tend to ask, “How did you know
what was in my head?” After the first series
was released, I knew I had something special,
unique and original on my hands; to have been
the world’s first and still only composer to be
front cover featured and celebrated on most of
the top CG websites and magazines, was not
only a huge honor (because I respect CG artists
to the core), but also very humbling. I get so
many supportive mails from CG artists and fans
who all say my music has helped them in some
way, which makes it all worth it.
page 32www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
An interview with musical mastermind, Justin Lassen Beyond SynaesthesiaCould you briefly explain the process of writing
music for images? What is it that triggers you to
want to write a piece for an image? How does
it start?
This is a good question. I think the thing to keep
in mind is that not every image makes me feel
like composing. I think the thing I look for in a
work, is the soul. I look for mythologies built into
the setting. Not just colors triggering notes, but
worlds that I feel could actually come to life. If I
can’t immediately see the soul, it doesn’t mean
it’s not in there, it’s just that I must be blind to
that vision. [Smiles]
To me, the magic part about writing for images
is that there is no process at all; if it triggers me
to compose, it does it instantly and there’s no
complicated nonsense in the way, no step by
step. The music will just flow from my fingers
to the keyboard, or whatever instrument I’m
playing at the time, almost instantly, and I
immediately become transported into that world.
The image becomes my desktop wallpaper and
I live with that vision while working on the music
for as long as I need it. I am a world traveler
I guess, and I don’t mean just here on Earth.
[Winks]
If you could start over with the “Synaesthesia”
project, is there anything you would do
differently?
Interestingly enough, there wasn’t a big
mischievous scheme, no product was designed,
no business plan; it was quite literally just my
love for art, and especially CG artists and CG
communities around the world.
I suppose maybe it would have been smarter
to productize it much sooner or create a more
central hub for the fans, but would that have
been a wise decision? Would it have cheapened
it? Or did it happen as it was going to happen,
no matter what? I suppose the magic of
discovering my Synaesthesia series, is the
discovery part of it, itself.
I don’t know the answers to these questions. I
think I’m happy with the way the project worked
out all these years, and all the fans I got from
it. I think they can tell it was my heart speaking,
and sometimes crying, and not me inspired by
my need for survival.
That reminds me of a beautiful quote I once
heard about music that “it is not about what
you hear, not about the notes played and the
melodies consumed, but about the empty
spaces, the silence in between that makes it
sing.” – Any thoughts on that? What would you
say if asked to describe music in one sentence?
I agree with that statement. I think there are
all kinds of impressive musicians in the world;
some who can shred a thousand notes a
second on a guitar in melodic death metal, or a
pianist virtuosi playing the keyboard at such an
intensity, as if he or she has six fingers on each
hand, or seemingly four hands total – much like
the hero in the film, “The Legend of 1900”, when
he was showing up that jazz pianist in the final
“battle” scene.
I don’t have my head in the sand on these
matters. I, of course, think that is a very
“I would describe music as oxygen; if you lose too
much of it, you die.”
impressive feat, but I don’t necessarily draw
a personal or deep connection with that sort
of complicated stuff. Bach is incredibly genius
and talented, and so complicated with his
“inventions”, yet Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata,
which has tons of blank space and room to
breathe, can touch me more? Why do I love
Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” choral
arrangement? Because it is simply beautiful, yet
full of complexity in other ways.
I would describe music as oxygen; if you lose
too much of it, you die. Get your fix whenever
you can, because maybe one day we won’t
have this much accessibility to music…
page 34www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
An interview with musical mastermind, Justin Lassen Beyond Synaesthesia
It’s interesting that you mention Beethoven,
because that quote was made about his
music! Anyhow, what would be your dream
environment or conditions to work in? Honestly.
No holding back.
I’ve always fantasized about being kinda in the
same situation as the main character in Charles
Dickens’ “Great Expectations”. I dream of some
random lawyer/patron of the arts/rich/illuminated
type who would like to remain nameless, whom
I don’t know or ever heard of, to set me up in
a sacred and gifted place with all that I need,
and access to ensembles and instruments and
costumes to boot. I can imagine waking up in a
castle somewhere with all the proper amenities,
no bills, not a typical care in the world – just
music and creation and collaboration and
experimentation.
I often wonder what it must feel like to be a “trust
fund” kid, or generally people who could do
anything, but choose not to. I know a lot of these
types of rich people who don’t appreciate their
own “wealth” or use it to their advantage; they
seem to just live from one day to the next trying
to blend in. Musically, I feel like all that I’ve given
the world is only but a taste, even to me. It was
a tease, a mean joke on myself.
I often cry myself to sleep thinking of all the
symphonies in my head and in my dreams, and
I constantly have a feeling that the music is just
going to burst out of my chest at any point with
an intensity I can’t control. I keep myself on
edge, never letting myself explode, because I
know I would lose all touch with reality if it ever
came out all at once like that. It could possibly
be dangerous, like writing four symphonies at
the same time. I do hope to one day create
these stories and orchestrated happenings ...
I know, it’s a selfish and simple dream, but it is
mine.
Scenery and environments are so very
important to me ... I have to live life, and balance
life and dreams, and most of the time the dream
suffers to maintain the life. I also wish for a
gorgeous, very old extended octave (9) stage
piano. [Smiles]
I have known you for about six years now, and
I can’t believe I’ve never asked you this, but …
[Grins] lollipops or ice cream? And what flavor?
That’s an easy one! Ice-cream: mint and
chocolate chip. [Smiles]
Fizzy or Flat? – Drinks, not ice cream.
[Laughs] Fizzy, or never mind!
Sounds good to me! OK, before anyone thinks
we’re losing it … in closing, are there any big
projects you are working on at the moment, and
what are your plans for the future?
There are always projects – big and small –
going on constantly, and always on a global
scale. People don’t realize because I don’t make
“I live in little “moments” of time that transition and
fade into each other...”
it apparent on the websites, but I’m constantly
in touch with all kinds of creative people around
the world in various countries, dreaming up and
working on gorgeous ideas and contraptions. I
am honored and humbled to have earned the
amount of cool fans I have, big celebrated and
small obscurities, in the work that I’ve put out
into the world all these years. I really hope to be
able to keep putting out more and more work as
my life continues to progress and I continue to
write new chapters in this sometimes dramatic
story I’m eagerly the star character in.
I wish I could plan for the future like normal
people, but lately it’s been unfolding in front of
“When I first heard from Justin Lassen, he didn’t approach me empty-
handed. His efforts were accompanied by glowing references from the
artists he’d composed his work for already. He had several finished
spots for me.
“His work shines a new light of inspiration for digital visual artists and
is the ultimate jamming collaboration for those lucky enough to have
music composed by him from their images. Many go on to create
deeper, more voluminous pieces. It was worth revisiting his journey
on CGSociety.org.
“This leap into aural experimentation continues to bring amazing
dimensional expansion to visual digital arts. I hope he continues and
I wish Justin Lassen well.” – Paul Hellard, Editor, CG Society &
Ballistic Publishing
me, without my permission. I wish I could live
out of an Outlook Calendar or iPhone like all
the other normal business people in the world,
but my days don’t have 24 hours like everyone
else’s, and my years don’t have 365 days. I live
in little “moments” of time that transition and
fade into each other on a constant basis. Now
that we are beyond the Synaesthesia series, I
look forward to my future as much as anyone
else and I can’t wait to see what comes out next.
I am on pins-and-needles now.
Any last words before we are told to shut up?
[Smiles]
Never shut up. Always dream!
Justin LassenFor more information please visit
www.empireofmodernthought.com (website)
http://www.justinlassen.com (blog)
or contact: [email protected]
A 2-Disc Special edition CD with all tracks
from the Synaesthesia project is scheduled for
release in October 2009.
Interviewed by: Nykolai Aleksander
For more information please visit:
http://www.admemento.com/
Or contact: [email protected]
modo is for artists
PMS COLORED
116 U
404 U
TM
3D image created in modo by Luxology. Credit: Gelmi
®
3D image created in modo by Luxology. Credit: Gelmi For more information, visit modo3D.com
Vancouver Film School congratulates Neill Blomkamp,a graduate of the one-year VFS 3D Animation & Visual Effects program, on his first feature film, the acclaimed District 9!41 talented VFS alumni helped realize Neill’s innovative vision for what critics are calling “a landmark film”, and we’re proud of all of them.
Exclusive interviews, video, giveaways, and more »vfs.com/D9
VFS ALUMNI ON DISTRICT 9
Neill Blomkamp (Graduated 1998)
DIRECTOR & CO-WRITER
Terri Tatchell (2001)
CO-WRITER
Shawn Walsh (1997)
VISUAL EFFECTS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
James Stewart (1997)
CREATURE SUPERVISOR
Robert Bourgeault (1997)
LIGHTING LEAD
Derek Stevenson (1998)
MATCHMOVE LEAD
Brett Ineson (1996)
MOTION CAPTURE SUPERVISOR
Christopher Ahrens (2006)
LIGHTING ARTIST
Geeta Basantani (2001)
COMPOSITOR
Peter Benson (1999)
MOTION CAPTURE ACTOR
Jelmer Boskma (2006)
MODELER
Freddy Chavez (2005)
VISUAL EFFECTS COMPOSITOR
Dominic Cheung (2005)
LIGHTING TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Paul Copeland (2005)
VISUAL EFFECTS ARTIST
Anthony Di Ninno (2006)
ANIMATOR
Ian Fenton (2001)
COMPOSITOR
Brian Harder (2000)
CREATURE RIGGER
Nathaniel Holroyd (2007)
VFX COORDINATOR
Bernhard Huber (2006)
EFFECTS ANIMATOR
Steve Johnston (2006)
RENDER WRANGLER
Patrick Kalyn (2001)
ANIMATOR
Bernhard Kimbacher (2007)
VISUAL EFFECTS DATA COORDINATOR & COMPOSITOR
Julianna Kolakis (2006)
CREATURE TEXTURE PAINTER
Veronica Marino (2006)
COMPOSITOR
Adam Marisett (2005)
VISUAL EFFECTS ARTIST
James McPhail (2007)
VISUAL EFFECTS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Nikolai Michaleski (1997)
COMPOSITOR
Jacob Miller (2006)
MATCHMOVE ARTIST
Francisco Moncayo Moreno (2007)
DIGITAL EFFECTS ARTIST
Brendon Morfitt (2004)
DIGITAL ARTIST
Fernando Pazos (1996)
ANIMATOR
Dan Prentice (2004)
CG ARTIST
Mike Rhone (1999)
VISUAL EFFECTS ARTIST
Cynthia Rodriguez del Castillo (2007)
DIGITAL PAINT & ROTO ARTIST
Cesar Rodriguez Bautista (2006)
DIGITAL PAINT & ROTO ARTIST
Marc Roth (1997)
VISUAL EFFECTS ARTIST
Ben Burden Smith (1999)
MOTION CAPTURE FIRST AD
Richard Sur (2006)
LIGHTING TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Anna Tonrungroj (2008)
DIGITAL COMPOSITOR
Grant Wilson (1991)
ANIMATOR
Joey Wilson (2005)
MODELER
Samson Wong (2007)
MATCHMOVE ARTIST
This Month we Feature Image from:
Mateja Petkovic
Florian de Gésincourt
Ioan Dumitrescu
Arnaud Valette
David Smit
Branko Bistrovic
Vlad “Duke” Kuprienko
Pao (Thitipong Jitmakusol)
Randis
Richard Anderson
page 39www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
The Galleries 10 of the Best
Days of VictoryIoan Dumitrescu aka jonone
(Right)
The Medieval KingdomMateja Petkovic
(Below)
www.matejapetkovic.blogspot.com
Winner of the CGTantra Futuristic Cityscape Matte Painting
Challenge, sponsored by 2DArtist Magazine
page 40www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
10 of the Best The Galleries
Futuristic Cityscape - Dubai in 100 YearsFlorian de Gésincourt (a.k.a. dges)
http://www.dges.fr; http://dges.over-blog.com
(Above)
Winner of the CGTantra Futuristic Cityscape Matte Painting Challenge,
sponsored by 2DArtist Magazine
XwingVlad “Duke” Kuprienko
http://www.3dreamlab.com
(Below)
AwakeningArnaud Valette
http://www.arnaudvalette.com
The Breath On Your NeckBranko Bistrovic
http://branko.cgsociety.org/gallery/
page 44www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
10 of the Best The Galleries
SpacesuitRichard Anderson
http://flaptrapsart.com/
(Right)
Vampire SlayerRandis
http://www.hd-fortress.com
© Randis Albion 2009
Secret AgentDavid Smit
http://www.davidsmit.com
Royal GuardPao (Thitipong Jitmakusol)
http://www.iampao.com
This tutorial series will revolve around the use of 3d as a starting point for digital painting. In particular we will
explore the value of Google SketchUp, a free program enabling users to quickly build 3d environments using
a set of intuitive tools.
This technique is used by many contemporary artists and is used as a quick and effective way of establishing
correct perspective as well as offering a moveable camera in order to experiment with compositions.
As a 3d package SketchUp is easy to learn and does not require hours of training and as an artist wishing
to draw complicated scenes, this approach can prove a valuable starting point for producing a template on
which to paint over.
“…by following along with the steps, you will be able to arrive at a similar
visual conclusion and then get excited enough to extrapolate the lessons
learned into your own pieces of artwork.”
• Free Brushes• Free Base Image
page 51www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting Part 3:
Using Google SketchUp as a base for Digital Painting
Why use SketchUp?Google SketchUp is a free programme enabling
users to quickly and effectively build 3D
environments using a number of intuitive tools.
Unlike most 3D packages it is very easy to learn
and does not require hours of training before
decent results are achievable. It is very versatile
and with regards to digital painting can prove an
invaluable tool in swiftly establishing a correct
perspective, as well as offering a moveable
camera in order to experiment with alternative
viewpoints and compositions.
An object can be made and then duplicated
any number of times, so if a structural element
is repeated throughout your concept then this
package can quickly and accurately create
such arrays. It also has a simple-to-use lighting
system that enables placement of the sun
according to the month and time of day by
way of slider bars, thus determining physically
correct shadows that can be turned on or off at
the click of a button. These functions mean that
as an artist wishing to draw detailed or tricky
scenes, one can use SketchUp as a valuable
starting point to establish a “guide template” on
which to paint over.
InstallationIn order to install SketchUp, click on the link
below and go to Downloads on the left hand
menu. Select the free version which is currently
version 7 (Fig.01). Choose your operating
system and then follow the instructions.
http://sketchup.google.com/
Once installed, click on the application shortcut
and you will be prompted with the following
dialogue box in which you are asked to choose
a template (Fig.02). The scale and type of your
scene will determine which you choose, but
for the purposes of this tutorial we will select
Architectural Design – Feet and Inches.
Toolbars & MenusWhen SketchUp starts you will see a screen
resembling Fig.03. From the main menu click
on View > Toolbars > Large Tool Set; this will
access more tools which will appear down the
left margin. To change the display mode of the
objects in the scene click on View > Face Style;
this will show a number of options, as seen in
Fig.04.
If you also check Views under View > Toolbars
you will see six small house icons appear
below your toolbar (Fig.05). These will provide
quick access to orthographic views, as well
as isometric. You will notice that I have also
checked Face Style in the list (highlighted in
green), which has added some cube icons to
represent the display modes.
This is basically where you can customise your
workspace and add toolsets to speed up your
workflow. For additional help go to Window >
Instructor; this will open a window providing
useful information on whichever tool you have
currently selected.
page 52www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Part 3: Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting
Basic NavigationThe key orientation tools you will use to navigate
in your scene are Orbit, Pan and Zoom, which
you will find on the top toolbar and whose
shortcut keys are represented by O (Orbit),
H (Pan) and Z (zoom). These can be seen in
Fig.06.
The main tools used to directly manipulate your
objects are Move (M), Rotate (Q) and Scale (S).
The Scale tool appears on the left hand toolbar
which you will see highlighted if you press S on
your keyboard.
Drawing ShapesOne way of using SketchUp is to create two-
dimensional shapes from which you can extrude
three-dimensional objects. Select the top view
and then the Line tool (Fig.07) and left-click in
the viewport to begin drawing. You will notice
that as you do so, the points will snap to the
green and red axes, thus easily enabling the
creation of right-angled structures.
When you finally close the shape by clicking on
the initial point you will notice the shape turns
blue, indicating a surface has been made; once
a shape has become closed you can still edit
it, however. Using the Line tool, add an internal
rectangle (see top diagram in Fig.08). To now
make this edge become part of the exterior
shape click on the Eraser tool and then on the
outside edge shown in red.
You can continue to cut into your shape or
alternatively extend it outwards and then erase
the necessary lines by using the Line tool
(Fig.09). Here I have added a walkway and
also a curved section using the Arc tool. You
can also draw more organic shapes using the
Freehand tool (Fig.10).
One other useful function, especially for
architectural structures, is the Offset tool which
is situated next to the Rotate tool. This enables
a shape to be duplicated in order to create
depth – perfect for drawing walls in a building,
for example (Fig.11).
With an exterior wall depth, click on the large
internal shape using the Select tool (black arrow
on Toolbar) and hit delete. You can then select
the Push/Pull tool and then click on the wall and
raise it vertically (Fig.12). You will notice I have
edited the section where the walkway adjoins
page 53www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting Part 3:
To add lighting effects check Shadows which
is above the Fog label, and to get more control
over this function go to View > Toolbars >
Shadows. This will place two slider bars on your
toolbar which denote the month and time of day.
By adjusting these you can control the position
of the sun and direction of the shadows (Fig.16).
There is a little icon to switch the lighting on or
off, and besides this there is also another icon
which opens up some extra parameters that
the building using the Line and Eraser tools so
that this was not raised along with the outer wall.
Three DimensionsWhen a shape has been converted into 3D it
can be edited further by using a combination
of the Line and Push/Pull tools. If you move
the Line tool along an edge it will snap to the
midpoint between opposing edges (Fig.13). You
can then make equally spaced cuts, as shown.
These new shapes can be pushed inward or
pulled outward, or alternatively a new shape can
be drawn and this can then be manipulated.
In Fig.14 I have used the Offset tool to create
a window shape in the far left rectangle. To
create the same proportioned window in the
other sections simply select the Offset tool
and double-click in each rectangle. To create
the arches use the Arc tool and then erase
the horizontal join shown by the dotted line.
To create windows use the Push/Pull tool to
move the shapes inwards beyond the inner wall
surface or until they disappear.
Using a combination of the tools mentioned
so far you will have the means through which
to create and edit a wide range of forms and
design detailed scenes.
Atmospherics & LightingYou can add atmospheric perspective in the
form of fog to your scene. Go to View and check
Fog, as seen in Fig.15. You will notice that the
edges on my building have also been switched
off, which you can control in the menu under
Edge Style > Display Edges.
alter the tonal range of the shading. You can
also control whether this affects just the object
itself or the ground along with it and vice versa.
Additional ToolsA few other useful tools worth mentioning are
the Tape Measure, Protractor and Dimension.
The Tape Measure is used to draw guidelines
which can then be traced over with the Line tool.
In Fig.17 you can see that the tape measure
page 54www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Part 3: Using 3D as a Base for 2D Paintinghas created the dotted lines which can be
used as a guide to draw the windows an equal
distance from the top and bottom of the block.
To delete the lines simply use the Eraser tool.
The Protractor is used to create accurate
angles. Move the tool to the point at which you
wish to start the angle and you will see how it
snaps to the three axes. Click to establish the
correct plane and then click to begin the angle
along the appropriate edge. Now you can set
the angle using the guideline. In Fig.18 I have
used the near corner as the starting point, which
I will mirror on the opposite corner.
Once the guidelines are drawn, trace them
using the Line tool, as with the Tape Measure.
In Fig.19 you can see that the two angles have
been drawn and then the Push/Pull tool was
used to extrude a roof shape across the base
block.
The Dimension tool simply adds a label to
your scene, showing the distance between two
points. Click and drag from A to B and then drag
up or down to set your dimensions, once again
using the Eraser tool to delete when necessary
(Fig.20).
CamerasThe camera in SketchUp is initially placed at an
average eye level height, so for example when
you click on the Position Camera tool it will
zoom in and appear around head height from
the ground. In this sense scale is an important
factor in your scene.
In Fig.21 you can see a cross where I intend to
position the camera, after which the viewpoint
will resemble the inset image. The character has
been placed in the scene to demonstrate the
relationship between the scale of a character
and the initial camera height. To adjust your
camera, use the Look Around tool represented
by the eye icon.
One final tool which may prove useful is the
Section Plane tool which allows a view of a
cross-section of your object. To use this click
on the tool and then align the green icon to the
corresponding plane or angle you wish to view.
Then select the Move tool and click on one
of the corner arrows and drag in the relevant
direction (Fig.22).
This concludes our overview which I hope has
at least introduced the main tools and their
functions. There are of course further lessons
to learn along with other tools and techniques,
such as applying materials, but the main aim
here is to introduce the interface and value of
the software in terms of building a simple 3D
environment which can then be used in digital
painting.
Richard TilburyFor more from this artist visit:
http://www.richardtilburyart.com/
Or contact them at:
page 55www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting Part 3:
you with the final image. My conservative hope
is that by following along with the steps, you will
be able to arrive at a similar visual conclusion
and then get excited enough to extrapolate the
lessons learned into your own pieces of artwork.
So without further ado, let’s get on with the
show!
Step 1 Here we can see the initial base geometry as
created in Google SketchUp (Fig.01). As you
can see it is all very rudimentary, although I
have turned on the shadowing (View > Toolbar
> Shadows > Display Shadows) as I find it
is one of the more tedious things to illustrate
manually.
Keeping the geometry simple is a conscious
decision which necessarily requires me to add
in the detail work by hand, rather than slaving
Therein lays the crux of this tutorial – that is to
undertake basic scene design, similar to that
in film or game pre-production, leveraging the
flexibility and rapidity of using a 3D modeling
package.
The scene I am looking to create is an area set
within a third world country, late in the afternoon,
lending itself to long cool shadows and warm
object colors. Due to the setting, the piece will
necessarily include the use of texturing to bring
a visceral feel to the world, and I’ll be using a
lot of earthy colors and an execution that will be
quite painterly with an abundance of application
strokes. This is in stark juxtaposition to sharp
clean lines, which is an inherent pitfall when
painting over perfectly rendered polygon edges.
My focus is to impart procedure and technique
that will be applicable across all manner of
subject matter and era, not necessarily to wow
Using 3D as a base for 2D PaintingSoftware Used: Google SketchUp and
Photoshop
IntroductionDesigning environments in a three-dimensional
space incorporating lighting cues, mood, and
spatially representing objects in relation to
one another are important skills in allowing
the art department leads to make decisions
early. Understanding perspective and volume
in three dimensions are essential to being able
to successfully undertake such a task, but
it may not always be desirable to start from
scratch – establishing the horizon lines, plotting
the vanishing points and then constructing the
objects in relation to these constraints.
As in any production environment, time is
of the essence, and this directly translates
to the expenses associated with a project
and additionally increases lead times on
making decisions. So taking advantage of any
techniques or skills which can expedite the
process is very valuable to those involved. This
is where using a program such as Google’s
free software, SketchUp can help: it allows
objects to be blocked out quickly and efficiently,
convergence is automatically taken care of,
rapid prototyping of various object placements
can be undertaken, and complex repeating
elements can be duplicated in a split second.
page 56www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Part 3: Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting
convergence lines based upon existing parallel
lines within the image (Fig.03).
The reasons they are important, especially
if there is no visible horizon line (such as in
this image) is that you have a tangible idea of
how the geometry is spaced according to one
another, and also to act as useful guides for any
hand drawn elements or textures that also need
to tend towards to pre-existing convergence
points.
Step 4
The next step is to decide what underlying color
the image should have. In this case I’ve decided
over the 3D base geometry for hours. I have
found that spending inordinate amounts of time
on the modeling beholdens me to the base
geometry far too much, and I unconsciously
don’t want to lose a lot of the details that I have
already modeled, regardless of whether they are
working to enhance or detract from the image.
As a general rule I spend as much time as I
need to block in the major shapes, but as little
time as possible. To illustrate, this work done in
SketchUp took approximately 10 minutes.
Step 2When the base modeling has been created,
I bring up the Styles dialogue box (Window
> Styles) which allows me to alter the style
from the generic SketchUp modeling style into
something that will help my painterly style later
on. In this case, I choose the PSO Cursive style,
which adds a background texture resembling
that of pencil texture on paper, and the lines
also look like ruled graphite (Fig.02). Overall, it
looks less computer generated and will help in
the rendering of the image.
Once this step has been done, I export the
image as a JPEG (File > Export > 2D Graphic)
and save the SketchUp source file in case I
need it later on.
Import your JPEG file into your illustration
software of choice – I use Photoshop – and
ensure you’re happy with the dimensions you’re
working with.
Step 3
My first step in all perspective based works is to
immediately draw up, on a separate layer, any
on an earthy or sandy colored ground, and I’ve
used a slight gradient applied to a separate
layer, with the layer blending mode set to
Multiply (Fig.04).
It’s important to note which way the predominant
light is coming from so that the gradients can
reflect this. I chose a sun position that is coming
from the upper left of the image, which also
has a low angle over the horizon which will
lend to some long shadows that can be used
to cast over the foreground objects, providing
unity, describing form and allowing for a more
dramatic composition.
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Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting Part 3:
have effectively textured part of the image in 3D
space.
Step 7
Obviously it would not do for the texture to be
intersecting with the other foreground elements,
Step 5
I choose to texture the ground early on; I see it
as a relatively unchanging element throughout
the image, so establishing some basis of what
everything else is built on is a logical first step
for me.
This is the base texture I’ve decided to use
(Fig.05). I did a quick search on Google, and
for the purpose of quickly texturing something
this is quite sufficient – yes, it has repeating
elements, and no it is not a perfectly tileable
element, but a lot of these imperfections can be
removed very rapidly by painting them out.
Step 6Create a duplicate of the texture (Layer > New >
Layer via Copy) (or Ctrl + J), and hide it so you
can reuse it later.
Using the duplicated layer, perform a Free
Transform to place the texture into perspective.
This can be done by going to Edit > Free
Transform (or Ctrl + T) and holding the Ctrl key
while dragging a control handle.
In Fig.06 I have aligned the texture’s edges to
the guidelines we set up earlier, and now we
so we necessarily need to start cutting out
segments of the texture image.
In order to do this, reduce the Opacity of
the texture layer to 30% so you can see
the underlying objects, and then, using the
Polygonal Lasso Tool (Click and hold on Lasso
Tool in the tools palette and then select the
Polygonal Lasso Tool), select the areas to be
cut out. Once you are happy with the selection,
hit the Delete button (Fig.07).
Step 8 In order to take advantage of the underlying
colors of the image, the layer needs to be set
to an alternative blending mode, so choose the
Screen mode.
You will notice that the texture lightens the
ground (Fig.08). For now, this is fine; your aim
here is just to apply some texture to the ground
which helps in the illusion of a receding ground
that is converging into the distance.
page 58www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Part 3: Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting
Step 9 Using the preceding four steps, you can now
complete the texturing for the entire ground
plane (Fig.09).
Step 10
We are looking to achieve a painterly rendering
style in this piece. As a result, a helpful step I
often include when I am working in this style is
creating the rough application of paint with a
custom made palette knife type brush that I use
for this task (free for download with this article –
just click on the Free Brushes icon) (Fig.10).
This helps to break up continuous and uniform
color with textured strokes, and also works to
reduce the adherence to the perfectly straight
lines from the 3D render. I pay particular
attention to the walls, where I consciously bough
and roughen up the edges to allude years of
wear and tear by the elements.
I also start to rough in some color here, making
sure I keep the saturation of these colors low.
Step 11
At this stage, I want to start adding in the semblance of detail, alluding to
things such as signs, shadows being cast from elements outside of the
visual extremities of the image, and shade cloth over windows.
I use a soft edged brush for this task (Fig.11). I tend to use Airbrush Soft
Round for general purposes when I have no pressing need for other
effects – it’s a fast brush, good for approximating form.
Step 12
When I am happy with the image’s overall composition, I then create a
duplicate summary layer.
A duplicate summary layer is essentially a layer above all other layers that
is created if you flatten all the prior layers and then create a duplicate of
that layer. I do this as a way of shifting my tonal range into something a
little darker (Fig.12).
page 59www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting Part 3:
Step 14
Next is another iterative pass at adding in more
detail to fill up those areas which seem a little
sparse, punch up some of the colors, and to
work in some lighter color around the top of the
central structure to create a bit more contrast in
order to draw the eye (Fig.14).
In order to do this, all you need to do is use the
command, Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E.
Once this is done, set the layer blend mode to
Multiply and Opacity to 100% – you will notice
the image darkens quite considerably. The
reasoning behind this is that your lighter colors
will have more “punch” to them when you start
working them back into your image.
Step 13
This step focuses on increasing the depth of the
shadows; alluding to some ambient occlusion
around the base of objects and working in
some slight vignette effect towards the outer
extremities are the main areas of focus (Fig.13).
Using the Airbrush Soft Round suffices for these
tasks.
Step 15
Still adding in more detail here, I’m
concentrating on filling in the colors of the
shade cloth and adding miscellaneous objects
underneath some of the covering, placing
various pipes on the tops of buildings to break
up their silhouette (Fig.15).
page 60www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Part 3: Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting
Step 16I feel the image needs the focal point to be
made more apparent, so I again refer to creating
a duplicate summary layer and setting it to
Multiply. Erase the lighter side of the building
and around the lighter parts of the ground, to
show that the light is being cast strongly from
the left (Fig.16).
Step 17 This is another iterative detail adding step now.
I take care to balance where I am placing the
objects; I like to work the image up as a whole,
rather than working on any one individual area
at a time (Fig.17).
A major addition is the slanted roof on
the middle structure, not because of any
requirement other than I think it makes the
viewer ask, “Where on earth is this place?!” Plus
it also looks kind of cool.
Step 18At this stage, I am comfortable enough with how
the image is coming along to start sharpening
up the details on the central structure and the
surrounding areas, like the tops of buildings and
the cloth coverings (Fig.18).
This is essentially a process of zooming in and
using a much smaller Chalk brush to work in the
details. When you zoom back out to the regular
viewing size, the image will be much clearer and
sharper.
Step 19
I feel that the ground needs an extra level of
detail here; some extra texturing that will sell the
surface as dry, cracking ground. So I do a quick
search on Google and end up with the texture
as displayed in Fig.19.
page 61www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Using 3D as a Base for 2D Painting Part 3:
image – such as the harsh shadowing at the
lower left extremities of the debris and junk.
ConclusionAlthough I’d still consider this image a work
in progress ripe for more refinement, for the
purposes of this tutorial I have covered all
the essential steps required to create an
environmental concept built upon a 3D base.
Again, I realize that there are repeating
elements and the tiling is very noticeable, but for
the purpose required, it is perfectly acceptable.
In order to use the correct scale, I shrink the
texture to half the original size and duplicate it to
create a quadrant.
Step 20
On the basis of steps 6 and 7, I place the
texture onto the ground plane and work them in
by erasing where necessary, desaturating the
color (it’s the texture information I want, not the
color) and changing the layer blending mode to
Overlay.
You can see from this simple step that it adds a
lot to the surface of the image (Fig.20).
Step 21 – Final
In finishing off, I replicate a few steps from
earlier on, such as adding some brick textures
to some of the walls, adding corrugated iron to
some slabs of color, and painting over some
areas which I deemed intrusive to the final
In all, once you get comfortable with the
process, you can typically finish one of these in
around 4 hours – it is then up to the art director
to determine the level of finish they want.
Darren YeowFor more from this artist contact them at:
• Free Brushes• Free Base Image
An artist’s brushes have always been a vital part of any painter’s set of tools, and remain the
single asset that links paint with canvas. As such, they are crucial to how we view and interpret
an artwork, and they afford the artist with a means through which to convey an idea or feeling.
This has always been true throughout the history of art, and is no less important within a digital
context. Software such as Photoshop and Painter essentially combine and fuse paint, canvas
and brushes into a single tool. However, within this complex set of “tools”, brushes retain certain
autonomy with their own, distinct set of parameters and presets, offering artists the freedom to
affect and vary the way paint is applied. This principle of customizing brushes forms the focus of
this set of tutorials, and aims to show how individual artists exploit these techniques to achieve
some interesting results!
“…start a whole folder on your computer of
hand-painted patterns that you can adjust or modify as you please, when you please. The possibilities are truly
endless…”
• Free Brushes
Custom Brushes Fabrics & Lace
page 63www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Custom Brushes: Fabrics & LaceSoftware Used: Photoshop
IntroductionSeeing realistically painted fabrics and material
embellishment is always awe-inspiring. We
wonder how an artist achieved it, managing
to apply such amounts of details and textures
without going insane in the process – those
of us who’ve tried to do it all one stroke at a
time have certainly had our brush with insanity
(excuse the pun!). Yes, it is manageable, but
intensely time-consuming aside from anything
else.
This is where custom brushes come to the
rescue.
To use custom brushes for fabrics, embroidery
and lace embellishments is not quite as simple
as is may seem at first glance, and still requires
some time to get right, but it is a lot less
aggravating than having to do it all by hand.
Are you curious to see how it works? Then just
keep reading!
Painting Realistic Fabrics & EmbellishmentsLet’s assume you have painted a wonderful
picture with someone wearing a beautiful ball
gown, or maybe a pirate in 17th Century thrown-
together garb, or a beggar in torn cotton rags
… Maybe you want to paint a dancer clad in
nothing but net and lace, or design a wedding
dress that will make jaws drop? The picture is
there, but the details are missing to distinguish
between cotton and silk, lace and net, wool and
linen, or give the garments that extra little kick
with extensive embroidery or exquisite brocade.
You’ve been looking at photos to give you
inspiration, you have been to textile shops to
look at the real deal, and even raided your own
wardrobe to see what certain fabrics look like,
but you still find it hard to paint it all. Well, you’ve
been to all the right places. You just forgot to
utilize what you saw. Go back to the textile store
and buy a small piece of this and that lace you
liked, download the free embroidery patterns
you saw online, get a fashion and fabrics
book from the library (not for direct copying
though, since even though the fabrics are not
copyrighted, the photos of them are), and go
back to your own wardrobe (or that of a friend
or relative) and pick out the pieces that hold
something of interest – maybe a piece of lace
underwear or net stockings, some torn jeans, a
chunky knit top or a dress with some nice flower
prints on it. And now you’re good to go!
Single PatternLet’s start with something simple: a single item
to turn into a brush. Here’s a photo of a T-shirt
of mine that has a nice flower print on it (Fig.01).
You can see how I made sure that the piece
was lying flat, and that I tried to photograph it
straight from above. That way, we eliminate any
kind of skewed angles and have as few creases
as possible, in efforts to avoid the problems they
may cause later on.
The first thing we want to do when we open the
photo in Photoshop is to desaturate it by going
to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate, unless of
course the image was taken in black and white,
like mine. It will be easier this way to optimize
the image before turning it into a brush. Some
colors turn grayscale better than others – the
ones of my T-shirt were unfortunately not some
of them.
To turn just the flower into a brush, we need
to get rid of the T-shirt surround – Photoshop
brushes will use anything that is not white, so if
we were to turn this current image into a brush,
we‘d get everything we see in it right now. So
we need to get rid of everything but the piece
we want to keep. Adjusting the Levels of the
photo – Image > Adjustments > Levels – helps
to get the desired results, making sure that the
surroundings get as pure white as possible,
while the flower remains nice and dark but not
too over-saturated (Fig.02). Too much contrast
here can make the image look very scraggly
and too sharp around the corners, which is not
very desirable.
We can now crop the image with the Cropping
Tool, trying to get as close to the edges of the
flower as possible without touching them. We
can also adjust the crop rotation if we want to –
sometimes it just works better (Fig.03). Now that
is done, we can adjust the picture some more,
if necessary. There may still be some grayish
tones where there should be white, and we need
to get rid of those.
We can either do this with the Paintbrush – a
simple Hard Round one is usually the best
Fabrics & Lace Custom Brushes
page 64www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
option here, with Opacity set to Pen Pressure
and color to white – or the Eraser Tool (with the
same settings). When using the Eraser Tool, we
need to make sure that our active Background
Color is white. We then carefully paint over or
erase the bits that need to go (Fig.04). Take
your time with this, as you want it to be as
perfect as you can get it! Leaving a bit of light
gray stippling around the immediate edges of
the flower is okay; it actually works a lot better
that way once we use it in a painting, as it won’t
look all too “cut out”.
Sometimes it can be easier to invert the
image’s colors (Image > Adjustments > Invert)
so everything that was white will be black, and
vice versa, as it is easier to see that way where
there’s still some grey areas in the black, than
in white. All you need to do before turning the
image into a brush later is invert it again to its
original colors. And should you work with the
Eraser Tool, make sure your active Background
Color is of course black, not white.
Essentially, we are now done, but if you feel that
the image could use a little more contrast, adjust
it once more using Levels. You can also use the
Burn Tool with the Mode set to Midtones to bring
out some of the dark areas a bit more (Fig.05).
Now the image is ready to be turned into a
brush. Depending on the size of the image, you
may have to resize it to be able to turn it into a
brush. In Photoshop CS, the brush size limit is
2500 pixels on either side (Image > Image Size).
Simply go to Edit > Define Brush Preset, give
your brush a name if you like – and you’re done
(Fig.06 – 07). This kind of brush is useful for
creating stand-alone embellishments on fabrics,
as well as non-continuous repeat patterns.
You can create lots of brushes like this from
photos or scanned items. The brushes will stay
in your Brushes Palette until you change your
Brush Set, and then Photoshop will ask you if
you would like to save the changes made to the
current set. You can also create a completely
new set with your own brushes, by deleting all
the brushes in your current set and then creating
new brushes. All you need to do then is to Save
the brushes (click that little arrow in the top right
of your Brushes Palette to get the option).
Seamless PatternLet’s move onto something a little trickier: a
seamless brush; one that, when used, creates a
continuous pattern. These can be anything from
knitted fabrics to lace borders.
We start pretty much the same way as we
did with the previous brush, by scanning or
photographing a piece of fabric or clothing. Here
we need to make absolutely sure the piece is
laid out straight, and that we capture it dead-
Custom Brushes Fabrics & Lace
page 65www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
this case. To rectify that, we need to transform
it a bit to get it straight. If we don’t do this, it will
not align properly later.
First, we may want to show the Grid, to get an
idea of where the lines need to be (View > Show
> Grid). We then select the canvas (Select >
All), and then go to Edit > Transform > Skew.
This will let us straighten the horizontals and
on from above. No odd angles. Also, we need
to make sure to capture enough of it, so the
pattern can be “stitched” together without any all
too obvious seams later.
I photographed a section of cotton lace border
(Fig.08) that I’d like to use. As the border itself
is white, I put it on a black piece of fabric (you
could use anything, as long as it’s dark) to get
the best contrast. We desaturate as before and
then invert the colors (Fig.09). This is necessary
this time round because we want the lace to
be the brush, not the surroundings. Some
adjustments in the Levels may be needed, as
before, so work your magic!
The next important step is cropping the image.
We need to make absolutely sure that we know
where the pattern starts and ends, so that we
can crop it right at that point. If it is a tiny repeat
pattern, as in this case, we can choose a larger
section to make it less obvious that it’s been
stitched together later on when used. The more
variation the better, as it makes it look much
more believable (Fig.10).
When cropping, it may become more apparent
that the pattern isn’t perfectly straight – like in
verticals out, as well as squish them to make
them line up better (Fig.11). Once we are done
with this, we can crop the pattern (Fig.12).
We now proceed as before with making a new
brush, and once we’ve done this we need to
adjust it to indeed create a seamless pattern:
We open a new canvas and select the brush.
We then open the Brush Presets palette
Fabrics & Lace Custom Brushes
page 66www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
(Fig.13). Click on Brush Tip Shape at the top of the list on the left. You’ll
see lots of options there, but the one we need to pay attention to is the
Spacing (Fig.13a). Moving the slider to the right spaces the brush out
more and more. Move it until you can see the segments touching each
other, instead of overlapping one another. Try the brush on an empty
canvas, as the preview isn‘t quite that accurate. If there’s a gap between
the segments, or they still overlap, fine-tune the Spacing manually by
increasing or decreasing the percentage. Once you‘re happy with it, create
a new brush preset from the existing one so you don‘t have to do adjust it
every time you want to use the brush (Fig.13b).
This kind of brush is useful for large surface texture or embellishment, like
lace and embroidery borders.
By the way, if you cannot tell if a brush is aligned right because your
straight line drawing ability is a bit under the weather – like mine – just
press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard while you draw the line – it
will automatically be straight.
Hand Painted PatternsOf course, we can also paint patterns by hand, or even make small
brushes such as (dotted, dashed or solid) circles, swirls, zigzags, or
whatever you can think of that will help with painting patterns by hand. I
usually like to paint all my patterns, no matter what they are, and then use
them as brushes, rather than photographing actual items. Painting and
designing your own patterns really gives you endless freedom.
The method for creating a brush for these is the same as the two
previously described, depending on whether you want a seamless pattern
or a stand-alone/repeat one.
Using Fabric BrushesDownload the Free Brushes with this tutorial and we’ll have a look at how
to best use the main brushes in the set. You will notice when you open it
in Photoshop that I’ve already adjusted the settings of the brushes so they
work as they should, but that shouldn’t stop you from playing around with
them.
The easiest ones to use are the Single Pattern brushes. I have not
provided any settings for these, as they are usually stamped onto an
image rather than used to paint. Here are two examples of brushes like
that (Fig.14).
When using these kinds of brushes, always make sure you use them on
a separate layer as they need to be adjusted. Why? Because they need
to follow the flow and folds of the fabric they are on, and have to have the
right perspective, too.
It’s quite simple, really, though you may need a little bit of practice with
this:
Here is one of the patterns on fabric with folds (Fig.15). If we want the
pattern to slightly wrap around something, like the side of a dress, we
first need to adjust the perspective of it. To do this, we go into Edit >
Transform > Perspective. We now push and pull at the corners and sides
of the Transform tool until we get it roughly in the right position. If some
of the pattern is going over the edges of the fabric, it shouldn’t be of any
Custom Brushes Fabrics & Lace
page 67www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
concern to us at the moment. Let’s continue with making the pattern fold.
The fun starts here!
If you’re working on a small area in a rather big painting, you may want to
select the area the pattern is in with the Marquee Tool. This will cut down
the loading time of the tool (or Filter?) we’ll be using next: Liquify. You can
find it under Filter > Liquify, and it‘s a small program all in itself (Fig.16).
To do what we are about to do, choose the Forward Warp Tool and adjust
your Brush Size to what is appropriate for what you need. The brush
should be slightly larger in diameter than what we are about to warp. Also
make sure you have Show Backdrop ticked at the bottom, and Mode
set to Behind, while Opacity should be something between 50 and 70. I
personally also like to show the Mesh, as it gives me a better indication of
what I am doing.
Now we gently start to push the pattern into the folds of the fabric, using
short, one-way strokes, lifting the brush off after every stroke. Resize the
brush as often as needed. For large or long areas, such as flower stems,
we need to start at one end and slowly work our way to the other end with
repeated brushstrokes. It is impossible here to make long strokes as it
will only warp the part where you first set your brush down on the canvas
(Fig.17).
The deeper the folds, the more we need to push the pattern into them,
creating the illusion of it bending with the fabric. If folds overlap, it may
Fabrics & Lace Custom Brushes
page 68www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
checkered square) – this will do what it says:
locks all transparent pixels, leaving you to paint
happily over everything else on the layer, which
in this case is the pattern, until you are happy
(Fig.19).
This is pretty much what you need to do every
single time you use a complete fabric texture or
just a pattern – no matter what it is. If it’s not a
flat surface, it needs to go with the direction of
the fabric. There is no way around that. At all!
All the textures and embellishments in the final
image of this tutorial were applied with that
same method.
be wise to first cut the pattern up and actually
removing part of it (where the folds would hide
the pattern) and then putting it back together
before using the Liquify Filter.
Once we have our result (Fig.18), we may
have to adjust it some more here and there, as
sometimes it is hard to judge where the pattern
is going while using the Liquify Filter.
At this point, if parts of the texture or pattern go
over the edges of whatever they are on, just
erase those parts.
This still doesn’t look quite right because the
pattern is one single block of color; it needs
shadows and highlights according to the light
source in the painting, and according to the folds
of the fabric. To easily paint over the pattern we
click on the little Lock Transparent Pixels icon
at the top left of our Layer Palette (the small
By the way, sometimes a brush like these looks
even better if you apply the Median Filter or a
slight Gaussian Blur, just to make especially
photographed or scanned textures look more
painted, and thus more part of the image.
So now that we have looked at one brush in
action, what do some of the other brushes look
like? I could just refer you to the final image,
but figured it’d be nice to see them just by
themselves for a clearer view (Fig.20 – 24).
ConclusionWorking with these kinds of brushes may take
some getting used to, but the result is well worth
Custom Brushes Fabrics & Lace
page 69www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
the time taken. I truly hope this little tutorial is of
some help in getting you started with it all.
Detailing your paintings should be fun, and with
these brushes it will hopefully be just that. And
if you’re really into it, you may even find yourself
keeping an eye open for new patterns all the
time, be it when shopping, reading magazines
or browsing online. Or, like me, you’ll start a
whole folder on your computer of hand-painted
patterns that you can adjust or modify as you
please, when you please. The possibilities are
truly endless…
Happy brushing!
Nykolai AleksanderFor more from this artist visit
http://www.admemento.com/
or contact
• Free Brushes
“...thinking about the character and that what he/she does
plays a great part in their appearance.”
This series of tutorials aims to show some of the methods and processes used to design and develop characters
from initial thumbnail sketches through to a final concept. The series will be divided into five parts and will focus on
the general design methods commonly used by character artists. It will begin with quick sketching techniques used to
suggest ideas and develop a theme before moving onto creating variations once a subject is established. The third
instalment will culminate in a finished concept design, after which we will move onto the importance of posing your
character and the impact this has on their personality. The series will conclude with a chapter dedicated to choosing
suitable eye levels and camera views to best convey an emotional state or emphasise a storyline.
Chapter 1 | Thumbs & Silhouettes
Chapter 2 | Visual Brainstorming – Variations on a Theme
Chapter 3 | Speed Painting & Concept Design
The third instalment will assume that all of the key characteristics have been established
and ready to be moulded into a final design sheet. Colour schemes along with detailing will
be covered in this chapter which will result in a finished concept.
Chapter 4 | Dynamic & Exaggerated Poses
Chapter 5 | Camera Placement, Framing, Fore-shortening & Distortion
page 73www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Dynamic Characters Part 3: Speed Painting & Concept Design
Part 3: Speed Painting & Concept DesignSoftware Used: Photoshop
IntroductionIn this third part of the tutorial series we will take on board what we have
learned in the previous chapters of this series, by Darren Yeow (Part 1)
and Bruno Werneck (Part 2), and we will now create a model sheet based
on our character design.
We will assume that the potential modeler for our character concept is
an experienced one, is capable of working from a modeling sheet, and
that he/she has a good understanding of form. And from this assumption,
we will paint the character from an angle so that all shapes have better
definition, and we therefore avoid the “stiffness” often inherent with a
standard view representation.
AnatomyI tend to incorporate the anatomy base early on into my design phase so
that whilst I am sketching my way to the final design, I already have the
anatomy of the character underneath. That way, each new part or design
follows the same base so that there is no confusion or odd exaggerations
in form.
With the anatomy base (Fig.01) ready to be painted upon, I start to
lay down brushstroke after brushstroke onto a new layer, whilst not
being too bothered by exact lines at this stage because I tend to
mold and carve my forms as I go along.
Front ViewI try to keep the armor that I paint in line with the anatomy
underneath so that I know it is functional, and that all parts are
where they should be, to ease the future modeling and rigging
work that our colleagues will do (Fig.02).
I continue to define parts by laying down basic brushstrokes
with a light source in mind to better define the form. It is
important not to zoom in too much here as it is easy to get caught
up in details at a stage when they don’t really matter. Try to keep
yourself from doing so with the mantra, “It will all make sense in
the end.”
The skin and armor are too close to one another value
wise, so I create a new layer on top using the Overlay layer
blending mode. I paint with white over where I want the skin
to be lighter. This helps the character to read better, and
now the skin and metal stand apart (Fig.03).
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Part 3: Speed Painting & Concept Design Dynamic Characters
That layer blending mode has a tendency to
change the hue of what is underneath it, so by
creating a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer on
top of your painting, which is set to Saturation:
-100, it will help your values stay gray rather
than becoming blue, for example (Fig.04).
I continue to add to the details and pieces
of armor of the design, thinking about the
character and that what he/
she does plays a great part in
their appearance. Personally, I tend to create
my characters by function rather than taking a
more aesthetical approach. And in this case,
I’m trying to visualize the armor on my body
and how it would move if I were to be wearing it
myself. Usually in this way I can figure out what
works and what doesn’t (Fig.05). I still haven’t
really gone into great detail of the line quality or
shapes. This will be addressed at a later point;
right now it’s all about getting the necessary
information down – the spit and polish comes
later. So let’s move onto our rear view, now.
Rear ViewIf you think of your character as a form, the
front could easily also be the back (Fig.06). So
I copy the character over to the right, and that
will become our rear view. Due to the fact that
the character has been painted at an angle
makes this phase is a little bit trickier than if it
were drawn in a standard view, but it’s not a big
problem.
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Dynamic Characters Part 3: Speed Painting & Concept Design
Imagine a line going across the forms you have
painted – the centerline – and this will help with
your understanding of how to create the back
view a lot easier (Fig.07).
I usually create the centerline in my mind, but
because this is a tutorial I will illustrate the
thought process for you (Fig.08). By using the
centerline while flipping anything in perspective,
it shouldn’t be hard to paint as long, as the flip is
a 180 degree rotation.
I have now reached the point of the back of the
design where the armor is starting to become
quite defined (Fig.09). I want to make sure it is
interesting from all angles so I will start to paint
the side view now.
Side ViewI create a new layer at the top of the image and
lay down some straight lines from the essential
points, to use them as my “anchor points”. Areas
that define a form should get a line. Taking the
helmet as an example, there will be a line at the
top of the helmet, and a line where it will end at
the bottom (Fig.10).
You can move parts around now in order to
make it look its best. At this stage I tend to
do a lot of adjustments and alignments. If I’d
previously spent a lot of time defining too many
details I would have had to redo them now whilst
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Part 3: Speed Painting & Concept Design Dynamic Characters
making these changes, which wouldn’t be a very
efficient workflow (Fig.11).
Adding Definition I am now at a point where I am satisfied with
the adjustments made, and so I will now start to
define the shapes in order to make it as clear as
I can for our modeler to follow (Fig.12).
By creating temporary selections and painting
within them helps me to keep the edges as clear
as possible, without having to go over them lots
of times to make them all nice and crisp. If you
look at Fig.13 I have painted a small example
of the technique for you. Here I have a fuzzy
line between two shapes that I want to make
clearer. I make the selection and paint inside
it. By inverting the selection back and forth I
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Dynamic Characters Part 3: Speed Painting & Concept Design
can continue to detail and paint without being
bothered about the edges and keeping them
clean. This is just a quick example, but it should
help illustrate the method for you to experiment
with.
By applying the same technique, the details
and edges become defined enough for the
character design to be suitable to be modeled
from (Fig.14).
ColorAs a final touch, and to add some color to the
design, I create a new layer on top of all layers
which I set to the Color layer blending mode. I
paint in blocks of color to separate the parts of
the design even further, making it easier for our
modeler to follow and translate into 3D (Fig.15).
And we’re done!
Björn Hurri For more from this artist visit
http://www.bjornhurri.com/
or contact
Chapter 1 – JulyIntroducing Photoshop’s Workspace, Graphics Tablets, Screen
Calibration, Color Profiles and the Brush Tool
Chapter 2 – August Canvas Settings, Scanning Drawings, Swatches, Colour Pickers,
Colour Theory, Layers and Custom Brushes!
Chapter 3 – SeptemberComposition Rules, Sketching and Perspective, Understanding
Light and Blocking-In. In the third chapter we’ll be looking into
the rules of composition, sketching and perspective, learning about
determining and applying a light source in paintings, which brushes
to use for blocking in a sketch, and also what tools can be used for
drawing straight lines without much hassle
Chapter 4 – OctoberColouring from Greyscale, Colours beyond Blocking-In, Blending
Methods and Using Photos
Chapter 5 – NovemberQuick Masks, Using the Wand Tool, Liquify Filter uses, Layer
Masks – and Painting!
Chapter 6 – DecemberThe Final Part: Finishing Touches, Filters, the Unsharpen Mask
and Saving your Work
This Workshop Series will look at, just as the title suggests, all the things that we need to know to get us started with
Photoshop – mainly for painting, but also for other things such as matte painting and photo manipulation, which often
use the same tools. We will be covering all the technical aspects of the programme, as well as some technical sides
of painting that’ll help us starting to swing the virtual brush!
• Free Brushes• Free Fibonacci Spiral (PSD)
page 81www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting Part 3
Chapter 3 – Composition Rules, Sketching and Perspective, Understanding Light and Blocking-In
Software Used: Photoshop
IntroductionSometimes it seems strange that so much
technical knowledge is needed to even begin
being creative in Photoshop. We’ve learned
a lot in the last two workshops, and if you are
still here now, reading this, then I can already
tell you that you have the dedication it takes to
make something truly great out of this!
As promised last month, we’ll be starting to paint
this time. However, even this will require some
background information that I find impossible to
ignore. So let’s get on with it.
Of Fibonacci, Forms and Freedom
Fibo-who? – Fibonacci, nickname of Leonardo
Pisano, born around 1124 in Pisa, Italy, and the
“greatest mathematician of the middle ages”.
I’m pretty sure you have heard of the Fibonacci
sequence – a sequence of numbers that he
introduced to the Western World – which also
featured in the film, “The Da Vinci Code”: 0-1-1-
2-3-5-8-13-21-34-55-86...
You may wonder what this – or even
mathematics – has to do with art? You’d be
surprised. Here it goes:
The Fibonacci sequence – also coined the
“God Number” – is present in many biological
settings; this means flowers, trees, seedpods,
arrangement of leaves on a stem, and even in
the hierarchy of a honeybee colony. You may
not be painting many bee colonies in your time
as an artist, but when it comes to flowers
and such things, it can be useful to know that
flowers’ petals and seed arrangements (this
is especially visible in sunflowers) adhere to
the Fibonacci sequence. The only flowers you
will find in nature have a petal arrangement of
two adjacent numbers of the sequence, such
as eight petals going in one direction, and 13
in the other, beneath the first.
Now you may think that this is sort
of useful to know, but kind of boring,
as your audience will most probably
not count every flower petal in your
pictures. And you’d be right, to a point.
But I had to start approaching this
subject somewhere now, didn’t I?
This sequence is also known as the
“Golden Sections” (Fig.01), which in turn can
be translated into the Fibonacci spiral (Fig.01a),
and can be found in nature as well (even though
it‘s a less substantiated claim), like in the
spiral of shells and the curve of waves. – It is
perfection: mathematics revealing the beauty we
see and create as artists.
If you are still not convinced that this has
anything to do with painting, then think again.
Why do we like something when we see
page 82www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Part 3 Beginner’s Guide to Digital Paintingit? – Because it appeals to us. And I am not
talking hot babes here, although they certainly
have their merits as well. What I mean is the
composition of a painting. How often have you
looked at a painting and thought to yourself
that you love how it all works together or that
you simply love it, but don’t know why? This
is most probably due to the fact that the
painting adheres to the Golden Sections.
Superimposing the Fibonacci spiral onto some
of my paintings (so no copyrights are broken),
you can see it works out, even with the ones
that have the main subject in the centre
(Fig.01b).
When you start sketching an idea, you
don’t have to keep the spiral in mind. But
when you feel something is off somehow,
superimpose the spiral and you’ll
most likely very quickly find out why.
Funnily enough, most seasoned artists
automatically stick to this recipe, without
ever touching the Spiral. Convinced now?
[Winks]
Sketching!So, let’s look at sketching something then.
There are several ways of going about doing
that digitally, but if you’d rather do your
sketches on paper, please feel free to do so.
Some artists find it useful to begin an idea
with a thumbnail sketch, which is a very small
sized sketch simply showing the very basic
composition and colors. Doing this on such a
small scale saves time, and as you can see the
entire canvas on your screen makes it easier
for you to take in the whole composition and
adjust things where necessary. For
these kinds of sketches, all you need is
a small canvas (something around 300
pixels is a good size – I‘m just doing
it larger for the purpose of this article)
and a basic round hard-edged brush.
Forget about details, just splash the paint
on the canvas, and you may end up with
something like what you can see here in
Fig.02.
So we have a landscape, looking pretty
much like a desert, with some mountains
and some kind of structure. Seems good
enough to me, so let’s stick with this one,
shall we?
If this is not your idea of sketching, and prefer
line drawings before you even want to consider
colors, that’s not a problem either. Here, too,
you may want to start with a smaller canvas,
although not quite as small as the one of the
thumbnail sketch – 1000 pixels at either side
should suffice – which can later be resized.
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Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting Part 3
to Pen Pressure, so you may want to try this,
too. Choose a dark color (black or dark brown,
perhaps?) and you are ready to go. My result
can be seen here in Fig.04.
Not very neat, is it? – It doesn’t have to be.
Let’s see about the composition now and apply
the Fibonacci spiral – you can find it available
for download at the end of this workshop as a
conveniently layered PSD file; simply click on
the Free Resources icon to download. Kind of
works, right (Fig.04a)?
You can of course open up a new canvas that
straight away has the size you want to paint
at, and simply have the canvas “Fit on Screen”
(View > Fit On Screen) so you can see all of it.
I personally dislike sketching on a white canvas,
for two reasons: too bright, and also, I never
start a painting on a white background, as white
has the tendency to make your colors appear
flatter and lighter than they actually are. The
same goes for black, by the way. So for a line
sketch, I like to use either a neutral color as
the background – preferably one that I want to
appear in the painting. You can either choose
one before opening a new canvas, as discussed
in the last chapter, or open a white canvas and
then choose your color. You can apply it to the
background by using the Paint Bucket Tool,
which you find with the Gradient Tool in the
tools palette (Fig.03).
Once you’ve done this, add a new layer to the
canvas and name it “Sketch”. This will now be
the layer that we sketch on, and that, if you‘ve
chosen to start on a small canvas, can later be
dragged onto a bigger canvas and transformed
for painting.
Pick your Paintbrush, and a small round Brush
Tip. I like setting my Size Jitter and Opacity
If it isn’t totally spot on, don’t worry about it,
but if it is totally off you may want to reconsider
your composition and perhaps change a few
things around. Totally central alignment of the
elements in your painting only really works for
certain styles of illustration, or more design-
oriented images.
By the way, if you have trouble with sketching
things freehand, don’t hesitate to use references
to look at – it really helps. There are several
good websites out there that offer free stock
images if you don’t have any photos that you
have taken or can take yourself. Just please
stay away from anything that is not labeled
clearly as stock or royalty free; people can get
mad when their pictures are used without their
permission.
Now you may want to clean up the sketch a
bit, especially if you’ve added an architectural
structure, as I have in mine. Why? Because
most architectural structures have straight
lines, and adhere to perspective. Perspective
is important even for landscapes, so you may
want to consider doing what I am about to show
you now.
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Part 3 Beginner’s Guide to Digital PaintingPerspectiveYou will have seen perspective in action
before, without even noticing it, because it’s
always been there. When you were standing
in a street, looking down it, or even up to
the tops of the skyscrapers – the street,
or skyscrapers, seem to get narrower the
further away they get from where you are
standing, and the lines of buildings seem to
be at an angle, too. This is because they all
run towards an invisible “vanishing point” at
the horizon – or two, or three, or as many as
you can think of. Let me give you a simple
example of the famous cube.
In Fig.05 we have a square – a flat one – as if
we are looking directly at it, perfectly centered.
Let’s add some depth, and the square turns
into a cube (Fig.05a). However, this one has
no real perspective; there is no vanishing point
(or maybe it’s just too far away for us to notice),
it‘s just three-dimensional. Now, in Fig.05b, the
very same cube is drawn with a vanishing point
in mind. Instantly looks more realistic, right?
Eyeballing perspective works to a point, but is
never quite accurate as our eyes love to play
tricks on us. That’s where perspective grids
come in very handy, as they show us every
line, every angle we need to know
about.
In newer Photoshop versions you have
something called the Perspective Grid Tool,
and I’ve heard it can be useful for some things,
but not for everything. I don’t have this Tool in
my Photoshop version, so unfortunately I cannot
explain its proper use here. I am sure though,
that if you Google this tool, you will find quite a
few resources regarding its use.
In our case right now, however, let’s be old-
school and draw our own perspective grids.
Besides, if you work on paper this is your only
option anyway!
Before we start with this, I guess I’d better
explain how to draw perfectly straight lines in
Photoshop, as without them it’s pointless to
draw a perspective grid. You have two options;
both are time-efficient and easy to use. One
of them will also be useful later on, when you
actually paint, so please don’t dismiss this
outright if you feel it takes a nanosecond longer
to do that the first.
There is no need to add a new layer to the
canvas for the first method, as new layers will
automatically be created with it. Select a color
that will stand out well from your sketch and
background. Now select the Line Tool. You will
find it under the Rectangle Tool (Fig.06), or,
if you cannot be bothered to wait for the mini
menu to pop up, just clock the Rectangle Tool
and go to your Options Bar, where you can
select the Line Tool (Fig.06a). The Line Tool
does what it says: draws straight lines. You can
change the line width and color in the Options
Bar (Fig.06b), and depending on the size of
your canvas, you may want to adjust this to
something easily visible when your canvas is
set to “Fit on Screen”. If you made the first line
and cannot see it – if your canvas is zoomed out
from its original size this happens a lot, because
the stroke made is just too thin to be seen at
that size – simply adjust your line width.
For the second method add a new layer to
your canvas before you do anything else, and
then choose the Paintbrush instead. Select
the standard Hard Round Brush Tip for this,
and make sure any kind of special settings are
switched off, even the Size and Opacity Jitter.
Make it small, as you don’t want big fat lines
covering your canvas.
To use the Paintbrush to make perfectly straight
lines, you need to put your pen down on the
canvas where you want the line to start,
and then press and hold the Shift key on
your keyboard while you draw the line. This
works for horizontal or vertical lines. To
draw straight diagonal lines, as you would
need to for the grid, put the pen down on
your starting point, and press and hold the
Shift key while lifting the pen off the canvas
and putting it back down where you want the
line to end – the diagonal line will draw itself!
For some fun, you can even continue to hold
the Shift key and just dot your pen around on
the canvas for lots of angled lines, or zigzag
patterns – whatever takes your fancy!
Note: What I have found is that it’s easier to
draw freehand diagonals with the Line Tool,
especially when you have to be precise, as
you can see where the line will go before you
commit it to the canvas. If you need precise
vertical, horizontal, or 45-degree angled lines,
simply press and hold your Shift key after you’ve
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Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting Part 3
set your pen down on the canvas – the Line
Tool will do the rest for you, depending on the
direction you drag it into.
There are two types of perspective grids that
come in useful for various things: the four-plane
perspective, and the two- (or multiple) point
perspective. These are probably not the official
names for them, in which case I hope I will be
forgiven, but this describes them pretty well
anyway. In any case, I’ll show you both.
Two-Point PerspectiveThe two-point perspective is the easier one
to draw, and also a very simple method of
determining the perspective of architectural
structures in a picture, so let’s start with that
one.
First, draw a straight line where your horizon
would be (just in case you don‘t know what that
is, it‘s the imagined line where the sky touches
the ground). That’s all – just draw that line. Now
we have to determine where the vanishing point
– or points – would be. The vanishing point
is a point at the horizon that all lines run to.
And it’s not always just one. In my example,
there are two (Fig.07).
To now draw a grid without any problems,
all you have to do is put your pen down on
the vanishing point and draw lines sticking
out at various angles from this point, like
sunrays, both above and below the horizon
line (Fig.07a). They don’t all have to be at the
same distance from each other – draw as many
or as little as you like.
If you now look at your Layers palette, you will
see lots of new layers that are called “Shape”.
Link all the Shape layers (but not with your
Background layer!) and go to Merge Linked.
You now have one layer with all your lines on it.
Next up, go to Layer > Duplicate Layer and then
check your Layers palette again: two layers with
the same thing on them. Select one of these two
layers – really doesn’t matter which one – and
then select the Move Tool , not just because
you may need it in a minute but also because if
you keep the Line Tool you will not be able to do
what we are about to do: transform the layer.
So, once you’ve got your Move Tool, go to Edit
> Transform > Flip Horizontal, and your second
layer will flip itself around. If it looks just right,
leave it where it is. If it doesn’t, you can move it
with the Move Tool to where you want it, making
sure that the horizon line on both your grid
layers line up (Fig.07b).
If you need to make one of the two layers longer
to fit better on your picture, you can do this by
going back into Edit, but instead of Transform
you select Free Transform. Remember that
only the active layer will be affected, so select
the layer you want to transform first. In Free
Transform, you get the same box around your
layer as you got with the Crop Tool: you can
rotate it by its corners, or stretch and squish
it by its mid-line dots. For this one, I suggest
you simply grab one of the mid-line dots on the
side and pull on it (Fig.07c) until you reach the
desired size. Apply the transformation by either
hitting the tick mark icon in your Options Bar,
by double-clicking your image, or by selecting a
different tool. If you want, you can now merge
the two grid layers. And there’s your finished
perspective grid (Fig.07d). You could of course
continue drawing lines all around the vanishing
points if you need them. This one would be, as
said, for a single structure.
Four-Plane PerspectiveNow for the four-plane perspective. This one
only uses one vanishing point (although two can
be used as well, to make it really confusing).
This is great for painting rooms within a building,
or whole cityscapes, or even landscapes…
You can start out in two ways: either by
determining the vanishing point (on an imagined
horizon line), or by drawing a rectangle or
page 86www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Part 3 Beginner’s Guide to Digital Paintingsquare (like the back wall of a room). When
doing the latter you have more freedom
regarding the grid we are about to draw
(Fig.08).
The first option of placing a vanishing point
anywhere on the canvas would continue with
drawing a big X on the canvas, with the lines
crossing through the vanishing point, and then
adding the square or rectangle, with the corners
touching the lines. This gives you a centered
perspective and isn’t always that dynamic in
terms of composition.
Anyway, let’s stick with the one I‘ve started here.
We draw four lines, one through each corner
of the rectangle, starting at the vanishing point
(Fig.08a). Now keep drawing lines that radiate
out from the vanishing point, one side at a time,
until your canvas is full (Fig.08b).
You can erase everything that is within the
square, but don’t have to. I just find it easier,
especially when drawing a room. Next up, draw
the vertical and horizontal lines – in essence,
bigger and bigger rectangles around your
original one, with the corners always
touching the same lines as the original
rectangle (Fig.08c). I suggest drawing
the complete rectangle before starting on
the next one, as this keeps the corners matching
up. The finished result should look like a “mesh
room” (Fig.08d).
If you’ve worked on multiple layers for this, or
layers were created, you may want to merge
all the layers into one to reduce your file size,
as well as make it easier to remove the grid
later or to adjust its opacity – something that
comes in useful when painting and sketching,
as those lines can be distracting (for this,
I suggest to Merge Visible, after making the
Background layer and any other layers you
do not want to merge with the grid invisible).
Note: Remember that all vertical lines remain
vertical, no matter what your perspective is …
unless you happen to be drawing the leaning
tower of Pisa, that is.
Now try and apply a perspective grid to your
sketch, according to what you‘ve drawn. In my
case it’s a bit on the complicated side, as I need
a mix of perspective grids for the landscape
and the structure, with one of my vanishing
points way off the canvas to the left. And yes, it
confuses the heck even out of me! But it works
(I think) (Fig.09).
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Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting Part 3
You can now refine your sketch according to the
grid. I choose only to refine my structure, as the
other stuff isn’t really bound to straight lines.
When it comes to architectural structures, it is
vital to stick to the grid, as otherwise you might
end up with something that even MC Escher
would be jealous of: totally warped geometry.
Think of a structure in 3D, rather than 2D, as
demonstrated earlier with the cube. If you
are good at working with 3D programs, by
all means feel free to make a simple or even
detailed model of whatever structure you want
in your painting, and add it onto your canvas
either as a reference “sketch“ or to paint over
later. If you are really bad at drawing buildings,
or even simple three-dimensional elements,
try out Google SketchUp; it’s easy to use (it
has a video walkthrough when you first start
up the program), isn’t very big, and also free.
If you use something like this just make sure
to adjust the perspective of your painting to the
perspective of your structure, or else you’ll end
up with something truly wonky.
Blocking-In!We are now ready to add the first layer
of color. This stage is called “blocking
in”, as all we’ll do is roughly lay the
colors down on the canvas in blocks.
The best brushes to use for this are
the Hard Round Paintbrush, an even-
edged textured brush, or a square
brush (either smooth or textured) with
the Size Jitter off, and Opacity Jitter on. You can
find a few brushes like this for download at the
end of this workshop – simply click on the Free
Resources icon again to download them.
Note: Never (ever!) paint on your sketch
layer! Rather paint beneath it, either on your
Background layer or on a layer you add beneath
the sketch layer. When working on the base
of your painting, starting with a landscape or
scene, there is no real need to add a new layer,
but you may feel more comfortable with it so the
choice is yours. I just urge you to not add a new
layer for every single object in your painting, as
this often ends up with a painting looking very
“cut and paste”, because the different objects
don’t really interact with each other.
If you did a thumbnail sketch, pick the colors
from that with your Eyedropper Tool. If you
didn’t, I suggest you compile a color scheme by
picking colors and painting them on a separate
canvas (Fig.10), or turning every color you
choose into a new swatch (I prefer the first two
methods, as I don’t work with the Swatches in
my usual painting workflow).
Consider your Light SourcesSomething to consider when you start blocking
in your painting is where the light would be
coming from, and perhaps even whether
there will there be a second or third light
source in the picture, like candles, or a
fire, or a lamp? You may have noticed that
in my little thumbnail sketch I’ve already
thought about it. But when just starting
out, light and shadow can seem very
daunting. So let’s look at it with a simple
example.
Here’s a shape, a circle (Fig.11) – nice
and flat. To turn this circle into a sphere,
it needs light and shadow. Imagine this
circle is sitting in the sun in a desert, at
around mid-afternoon (Fig.11a); the
light would touch it only on one side,
casting the other into shadow
and also making the new
sphere cast a shadow on
the ground (Fig.11b).
But what if that one light source
is a spotlight, like a desk lamp,
and there is not much else in terms of
ambient light? Things would change a bit
then, as a spotlight is a directional light
source casting a single beam (Fig.11c),
and according to that the light area would
look a bit different, as well as the shadows
(Fig.11d).
page 88www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Part 3 Beginner’s Guide to Digital PaintingHow about if that sphere sat outside
somewhere at night, under a full moon, with
a small fire going to keep it nice and cozy
(Fig.11e)? Both the moon and the fire are light
sources, but the fire is much closer than the
moon is to the sphere, and so the fire becomes
the primary light source casting some warm
glowing light and more or less fuzzy shadows.
The moon cannot possibly compete with this,
but still has an influence on the sphere with a
very light and ghostly hint of a glow, but not
much in terms of shadows (Fig.11f). If the
moon where the setting sun, the shadows
from that light source would be much
stronger – it is the sun after all – and
overlapping with the ones from the fire.
And if there are many different light
sources casting an ambient light, there
wouldn’t be much in terms of shadows,
just hints here and there where the light
doesn’t reach.
Taking all this into consideration, we
determine our light source for the painting
and start blocking in the colors. I want the
sun to shine from somewhere on the right,
near the horizon, and so cast my shadows
accordingly. For the structure I add a new
layer, because it will be easier later to work
on it without disturbing the landscape (Fig.12).
Instantly, we achieve depth, adding form to the
shapes.
We continue refining the scene, ignoring small
details for now – you want to get the feel of
the image right first before possibly wasting
time on details that later may not work. Start
using slightly smaller brushes, and maybe even
change the Opacity and Flow manually in the
Options Bar to layer our colors like washes,
which will automatically make everything blend
to a certain degree (Fig.12a).
By the way, if you make a mistake
simply go into your History palette and
either click on the Delete icon (the little
trash can at the bottom), or click and drag
the steps onto the icon. You can delete multiple
steps at once by selecting any one step in the
list, and then drag it and the ones below it into
the bin – the ones below the selected step will
follow automatically. Just make sure to never
delete the very top step in your palette, as it will
revert the image to its previously saved stage. If
you decide that deleting the steps wasn’t a good
decision after all, you can reverse it by going
to Edit > Undo Delete States. This however
page 89www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting Part 3
Set the Palette to Local (Perceptual), change
the Colors to whatever number of colors you
want. 256 will be the most you can get, and
will obviously give you the broadest range of
shades. So I’ll stick with that. In the drop-down
menu of Forced, select None, and uncheck
Transparency. Then set your Dither to None, too
(Fig.13b). Hit OK.
Now, go back into Image > Mode, and select
Color Table – another box will pop up showing
you your Swatches (Fig.13c). Save them. Now
you can Load the new set from your Swatches
palette menu (click on the small arrows in the
top right corner to see the menu), and away you
go!
ConclusionWith this I shall leave you until next chapter,
hoping that at least a little bit of what
we’ve learned this time has stuck. It was
quite a lot to digest, but you can always
go back and check it up again.
Next time we will be looking at coloring a
monochrome painting or sketch, adding to
and changing things in a painting, applying
different blending methods, as well as using
photos – either directly or as brushes in our
work. And this is where the freedom of digital
painting will truly start …
Nykolai AleksanderFor more from this artist visit
http://www.admemento.com/
or contact
will only work if you haven’t done anything new
to your picture yet. The moment you make
just a single new brushstroke, the chance
of recovering the deleted steps is gone …
Forever. Really!
Note: If you feel fine about using colors
straight away, I’d suggest not adding a layer
to your canvas but to just fill it with a color
that would be a good base for the painting,
and then take it from there with broad, rough
brushstrokes that you will then refine over the
course of the painting. Use the same brushes
for this as suggested for blocking in a line
sketch.
Stepping back in time…And last but oh so definitely not least, I need
to seriously backtrack all the way to the first
chapter of this series for a second, before
brining this installment to a close, and rectify
something that was brought to my attention
by the lovely Lica Rodriguez on deviantART
(http://jlr-lica.deviantart.com), who was kind
enough to point this out to me: Turning colors in
images (like photos) into Swatches is possible in
Photoshop CS, and this is how you do it:
Open an image/photo – I‘m using a picture
I took here in South Africa as an example
because the color range is rather nice (Fig.13).
Go to Image > Mode > Indexed Color. A pop-up
box will come up (Fig.13a) that gives us a
few options. The default settings won’t
do, so here we go to change that:
3DTotal presents the new issue of 3dcreativemagazine: a downloadable monthly magazine for concept art, digital & matte painting for only £2.75 (approx $3.78 - €2.93)
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Issue 049 September 2009
The GalleryJonathan Simard, Nikita Veprikov, Deniz Ozemre & more!
InterviewHao Ai Qiang
Amphibian Man Bruno Melo returns to take on the latest topic of an “amphibian-man” in the ZBrush “Manimal” Creation series
FREE Inside LookDigital Art Masters: Volume 4 Project Overview by Michal Kwolek
Photoshop for 3DRichard Tilbury shows us how to add volumetric lighting and particle effects to our 3D scenes
Next-Gen Character Creation Joseph Harford wraps up sculpting the high-poly mesh in ZBrush in the fourth part of this multi-software tutorial series
Creating Custom Textures in Photoshop Richard Tilbury looks at the value of bump and specular maps, and how overlay maps can help disguise tiling issues
Project Overview“Le Rabbit” by Jose Alves da Silva
David Munoz Velazquez is no stranger to 2DArtist;
impressing us once more with his character concept,
“Hovercraft Parrot”, we welcome David back to issue 45
to talk us through the creation process of this intriguing
design. Based on a great back story, find out how David
breathes life into his designs through his skilful brushwork
and his ability to meld the rough with the smooth!
“The design is somewhat abstract because with the method I used kept changing the shapes until I found something interesting – this made the work more fun and the results became more of a surprise to me.”
page 93www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Hovercraft Parrot Making Of
organisms. The design is somewhat abstract
because with the method I used kept changing
the shapes until I found something interesting
– this made the work more fun and the results
became more of a surprise to me.
BrushesThese are the brushes I used to create
Hovercraft Parrot (Fig.00). I like to use several
brushes in order to get more texture and detail
variation without actually using any textures.
ConceptI started by drawing a quick concept, focusing
on the top part of the character first and
foremost (Fig.01). Here I was working quite
simply with general shapes that I liked, but they
did of course change throughout the process, as
you’ll see.
At this point, I’m using brushes 3 and 4 from the
before-mentioned brushes (see Fig.00).
Lighting, Color & DetailStill using brushes 3 and 4, the next stage was
all about lighting and color, although nothing
was yet definitive at this part of the process
(Fig.02). I like to improvise whilst I create
a character and so avoid making any final
decisions so early on.
I started trying some ideas out at the bottom
part of the character here (Fig.03) – I didn’t think
the legs were working as a humanoid type. Still
adding lighting and some detail, and still using
brushes 3 and 4 (Fig.00) – not thinking about
the background, but knowing that it was going
to be dark or cloudy to compliment the character
design and the concept.
Making Of ‘Hovercraft Parrot’Software Used: Photoshop
About Hovercraft ParrotThis is a character design which is in fact more
the design of a vehicle to be used for personal
transport, or racing. It has to be like a hovercraft
because the surface of the planet is very rough
covered by small, crystal, organic plants. These
tiny plants emit an electrical power and have
small magnetic shields; they are connected to
one another and they give energy to the planet
and its inhabitants. The armor – the vehicle –
absorbs the energy simply by gliding over these
energizing plants.
Most of the planet’s surface is covered by these
plants, as well as bushes and very small, dark
rocks. The blue electrical plants are the ones
that connect together – if there is too much
energy they will blow away, eroding the terrain,
but in doing so they create a surge of energy
through which more of these new plants will
come to life to take their place.
The planet doesn’t have any sun or water; it
is simply driven by the energy of the electrical
“I like to improvise whilst I create a character”
page 94www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Making Of Hovercraft Parrot
Refining the design further still (still brushes 3
and 4), I made a clear decision about the bottom
part of the character at this stage; it was here
that I knew I wanted it to be hovercraft looking
(Fig.04).
I then changed some elements on the armor
and the engine, trying to make it look more
mechanical (again, using brushes 3 and 4)
(Fig.05).
Another clear idea for the design I came up
with was to give him wings to glide – some kind
of flaps which, as well as being purposeful to
help him in flight, are also built like armor for
protection (Fig.06). I’m still using brushes 3 and
4!
To finish up the character before moving onto
the character, I changed some proportions
and made some final design changes. I also
added some light effects to the flying engine – I
think they look clearer in their function like this
(Fig.07). I was still using brushes 3 and 4 here –
we’re about to see how the other brushes were
used, though!
The BackgroundFor the background design, I separated the
figure onto a different layer to be able to paint
behind it. I had more or less a clear of how the
page 95www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Hovercraft Parrot Making Of
colors and lighting were going to be similar to
the colors I used during the character design.
You can see that I started to apply some shapes
and color down, using brushes 3 and 4, and also
introducing brushes 1 and 5 (see Fig.00) to the
mix, too (Fig.08).
Using brushes 7 and 8 (see Fig.00) I continued
to add the small yellow plants, whilst brush 9
was helpful to apply some brightness and make
the areas around the plants shine, indicating
their ability to emit light and electricity (Fig.09).
Close-UpsHere is a close-up of the background finished
(Fig.10). At this point I’d used all of the brushes
shown in Fig.00. Keeping the desaturated tones
I added some yellow-brown hints to give it a
mossy look, and I made it clearer that the plants
were connected by adding some small sparks
between them.
Finally, here is a close-up detail of the character;
even for the final detailing I was using brushes
3 and 4 (Fig.11-12). I kept some areas more
detailed and left others loose, adding color and
shapes to give detail without explaining the
shapes too much, keeping life in the brushwork
and the design.
The final composition can be seen in Fig.13.
Thanks for reading!
David Munoz VelazquezFor more from this artist visit
http://www.munozvelazquez.com/
or contact
“Keeping the desaturated tones I added some yellow-
brown hints”
page 96www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
Making Of Hovercraft Parrot
© Bradford Rigney
With the release of 3DTotal’s latest book,
Digital Art Masters: Volume 4, we have
some exclusive chapters for you...
This book is more than just an artwork
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full-colour, full-page images, but each artist
has given a detailed description, in their
own words, of the creation process behind
each piece of published artwork. And
they’ve done it especially for this book!
This month we feature:
“Containment Breach Sub-
Level 5” by Bradford Rigney
© Bradford Rigney
The following shots of the “Containment Breach Sub-Level 5” book pages are featured here in full-resolution and can be read by zooming in...
Digital Art Masters: Volume 1, 2, 3 & 4
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InterviewsJason Seiler
TutorialsUsing 3D as a Base for 2D Painting
Part 4 by Carlos Cabrera
Custom Brushes: Part 3
Dynamic Characters!
Part 4: Dynamic & Exaggerated Poses by Mark McDonnell
Beginner’s Guide to Digital Painting:
Part 3 by Nykolai Aleksander
Galleriesanother 10 of the best
Images from around the world!
image: Guillaume Menuel
visit www.2dartistmag.com for full information and to purchase current and
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page 102www.2dartistmag.com Issue 045 September 2009
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